1 


MGMORIflL 


OF 


IbXx^s.  piarse  Stciuitrt. 


EDITHD  BY  IIEU  IIUSUAND, 


0V5C  ^kwavi,  ^,m.,  ffi.  f). 


'The  Lord  will  perfect  that  wliicli  concerneth  mo."— Psalm  csxx-viii:  8. 
Her  text  for  the  yeau  1888. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

For  prpsentation  to  old  fricnfls  ami  col.-iNorLTS  in  Clirlslian  Work.     Some  copies  left 

at  MACl-ARI.ANK'S  for  sale,  the  entire  receipts  to  lie  paid  into  the 

Treasury  of  the  Detroit  Woman's  Christian  Association. 


Copyright,  1889,  by 
MOfiSE    STEWART. 


» 


».  .». 


'ZiO^ 


i 


THIS  BOOK  IS 

DEDICATED   TO    MY   CHILDREN, 

CO 

CO  FOB  WHOM   IT  HAS  BEEN  SPECIALLY  COMPILED,   WITH  THE  HOPE  THAT  THE 

en 

^  RECORD  OF  A  NODLE  LIFE  MAY  INSPIRE  THEM  TO  FOLLOW 

,-  IN    THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  THEIR   NOW  SAINTED 


cz 


MOTHER, 


"~^  AND  THAT  BY  THEM  ALSO,   THE  HERITAGE  OF  PIOUS  ANCESTRY 
^  MAY  BE  TRANSMITTED  TO  THE  GENERATIONS 

^  FOLLOWING. 

S  MORSE  STEWART. 


2H(ii8() 


CONTCNTS, 


PAGE. 

DeOICHTION,       .         .         .       -.         .         .         .  5 

INTRODUCTION 7 

BIOGRHPHICflL   SKSTCH 11 

FUNeRflL  flDDRSSS,  Rev.  Dr.  Kellogg,  QO 

TRIBUTeS 27 

LETTERS  OF  CONDOLeNCe,        ...  36 

MRS.  STGWflRT'S  LGTTCRS 44 

To  Y\er  FarTqily;  I^er  Husband;  M.  S.,  dr.; 
1.  G.  B.  S.  ;  M.  B.  S. ;  R.  S.  S, ;  lier  brotlier, 
H,  M.  D. ;  l|er  neptieW  aqd  l)is  Wife ;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  S.  W.  D.,  aqd  to  a  friend.  Rr[d 
l]$r  letter  on  tl\e  loss  of  tl\e  Prol^ibitory 
Hrnendnqent. 

(T)i5Q^LC/^|VE0ds  u/Fjiyipiqs. 

HDDRCSS    OF   WeLCOMS   TO    MISSIONARY 

CONYGNTION 78 

flDDRGSS  TO  W.  C.  T.  U.  CONYGNTION,      .  83 

TRIBUTe  TO  MRS.  GILLMAN,  ...      85 


VI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

JVLY  FIRST  SABBATH   SCHOOL  CLASS,     .  87 

WHO  CAN  PROTeCT  THE  CHILDRGN  ?  .      95 

DANGEROUS  BOOKS, ■  99 

WHO  ARE  THE  POOR   OF  THE  CHURCH  OF 

CHRIST  9 106 

CHARLSS  DICKENS, 108 

A  LONCLY  OLD  MAN,        .         .         .   '      .         .112 

TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA 121 

LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD,       ....    243 

A  SONG  FOR  THC  UNION,    ....         298 

THE  OLD  AND  THE  NGW  YCAR,     .         .         .    302 

EXTRACT  FROM  MRS,  STCWART'S  WILL,       304 

IN  MEMORIAM, 305 

ISABGLLA  G.  D.  STGWART,      .         .     Frontispiece 
THG  CALIFORNIA   LIKGNESS,      .      opp.  page  152 


INTRODUCTION. 


lutrocltxctioix. 


Mrs.  Stewart  died  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  Ma}', 
1888,  after  three  days'  illness,  at  the  "  Oakland,"  St.  Clair, 
Michigan,  where  she  had  gone  two  weeks  before  for  the  pur- 
pose of  rest  and  recuperation  of  strength,  which  had  been 
impaired  by  reason  of  the  prolonged  illness  of  two  members 
of  her  famil3^  Previous  to  the  month  of  December,  1887, 
she  had  been  in  better  health  for  a  number  of  years  than 
throughout  all  of  her  married  life.  Through  her  wonderful 
energy  and  by  careful  systemization  of  labor  she  made  the 
most  out  of  these  years  in  religious  and  jihilanthropic  Avork  in 
which  she  deligiited.  Indeed,  sickness  seemed  no  impediment 
to  her  efforts  in  whatever  direction  turned,  for  much  of  all 
that  she  accomplished  was  through  her  pen  ;  and  this  was 
ever  available,  even  when  confined  to  bed  by  illness. 

She  was  active  in  all  that  concerned  the  moral  and  religious 
interests  of  society,  and  by  many  persons  had  come  to  be 
regarded  a  prime  factor  in  giving  the  starting  impetus  to  an 
enterprise,  as  well  as  the  prolonged  sustaining  force  necessary 
to  carry  it  to  a  successful  issue.  And  yet  while  thus  occu- 
pied, the  management  of  her  large  and  somewhat  bewildering 
household  was  in  no  way  neglected.  Indeed,  the  words  of 
Solomon,  "She  lookoth  well  to  the  ways  of  her  household," 
are  eminently  appropriate  of  her. 

In  preparing  a  memorial  of  Mrs.  Stewart,  it  is  desirable  to 
present  as  vividly  as  possible  those  personal  characteristics 
which  gave  to  her  such  a  marked  individuality  ;  and  it  is 
believed  that  no  better  means  can  be  used  for  this  purpose 
than  her  writings,  epistolary  and  miscellaneous.     Letters  to 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

her  family  and  personal  friends  are  especially  suited  to  give 
the  domestic  and  home  side  of  her  life.  In  order  to  show  her 
vivid  descriptive  powers  and  fine  appreciation  of  the  beauti- 
ful in  nature  and  art,  her  lively,  vivacious  humor,  and  her 
happy  faculty  of  adapting  herself  to  persons,  places  and  cir- 
cumstances, her  miscellaneous  writings,  and  especially  letters 
of  travel,  are  given,  among  which  is  a  full  text  of  California 
letters,  written  seventeen  years  ago. 

Mrs.  Stewart  inherited  among  other  gifts  a  rare  poetic  tal- 
ent ;  she  was,  however,  sharply  critical,  and  would  not  ven- 
ture upon  this  field  of  literature  without  more  pains  given  to 
cultivation  of  style  than  her  active  life  and  daily  routine  of 
work  allowed.  Still,  at  times,  the  spirit  of  the  muses  found 
utterance  as  stirring  occasions  called  it  out.  Her  poetic 
imagination  and  vigor  of  expression  are  admirably  shown  in 
a  "  Song  for  the  Union,"  written  for  a  public  meeting  of  the 
citizens  of  Detroit  on  the  breaking  out  of  our  civil  war  ;  and 
the  deep  pathos,  rising  into  exalted  hope,  of  the  poem  enti- 
tled "  A  Requiem  and  a  Welcome  of  the  Old  and  the  New 
Year,"  at  the  close  of  the  war,  gives  evidence  of  no  mean 
order  of  talent  in  poesy.  Yet,  when  asked  if  she  wrote 
poetry,  her  reply  was,  "  I  sometimes  write  verses.''^ 

If  in  any  one  quality  of  mind  Mrs.  Stewart  excelled,  it 
was  that  of  courage,  that  "firmness  of  spirit  and  swell  of 
soul "  which  knew  no  fear  in  the  presence  of  danger  ;  that 
intrepid  firmness  which  boldly  faced  whatever  obstacles  lay 
in  her  pathway,  and  secured  success  to  all  her  undertakings. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  sj^eak  of  her  religious  character 
in  a  community  where  she  was  so  well  known.  That  she  was 
deeply  imbued  with  the  vital  doctrines  of  Christianity,  all 
know.  The  truth  and  consequent  importance  of  these  doc- 
trines so  impressed  her  that  she  sought  by  the  use  of  all 
proper  means  to  bring  them  to  the  apprehension  of  those 
who  were  ignorant  of  or  indifferent  towards  them.  She 
counted  not  her  own  ease  and  comfort  when  the}^  conflicted 


INTRODUCTIOISr.  IX 

with  what  she  felt  to  be  the  duty  of  every  Christian  in 
carrying  to  others  the  blessed  messages  of  love  and  mercy 
from  God  to  man.  With  her,  religion  was  not  a  sentiment, 
but  the  highest  principle;  yet  she  was  not  narrow  in  her 
views,  but  broad  enough  to  embrace  in  Christian  love  any 
one  in  whom  the  image  of  Christ  was  reflected. 

If  it  were  possible  to  present  a  view  of  the  two  well  worn 
Bibles,  her  daily  companions  for  the  last  seventeen  years, 
with  the  inscriptions  which  cover  the  fly  leaves,  and  the  mar- 
ginal references  and  commentaries  on  the  text,  a  better  idea 
might  thereby  be  given  of  her  close  study  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  her  deep  religious  experience,  than  by  any  other  means. 

From  lack  of  space,  but  few  of  the  many  beautiful  and 
touching  letters  of  sympathy  which  have  been  received  are 
printed  here,  the  wish  being  rather  to  devote  this  book  to  her 
own  writings.  M.  S. 


THE  Following  Biographical  Sketch  (supplemented  by  some  addi- 
tional facts)  is  taken  by  permission  from  the  forthcoming  edition 
of  Farmer's  History  of  Detroit  and  Michigan. 


The  histor}'  of  the  charities  of  Detroit  may  be  appro- 
priately concluded  with  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life  of 
Isabella  Graham  DufHeld  Stewart,  only  daughter  of  Rev. 
George  Duffield,  D.  D.,and  Isabella  Graham  Bethune  Duf- 
iield.  Mrs.  Stewart  was  notably  prominent  in  the  found- 
ing of  several  of  the  most  anccessfal  of  the  city  charities, 
and  greatly  influential  in  a  variety  of  philanthropic  enter- 
prises. 

Her  father,  for  thirty  years  the  pastor  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Detroit,  was  noted  as  a  preacher,  a  man 
of  deep  and  varied  learning,  and  a  liberal  contributor  to 
the  religious  literature  of  his  day.  He  was  especially 
interested  in  the  educational  development  of  his  adopted 
vState,  above  all  in  the  Michigan  University,  of  whose  Board 
of  Regents  he  was  for  many  years  an  active  and  useful 
member. 

His  daughter  Isabella  was  born  in  Carlisle,  Cumberland 
County,  Pennsylvania,  February  11,  1830.  She  was  a 
woman  of  marked  individuality  of  character,  and  many  of 
lier  moral  and  mental  traits  may  be  traced  to  her  ancestry 
upon  both  sides,  which  for  generations  included  many 
names  of  high  standing  in  church  and  state.  Tiie  DufHelds 
were  originally  of  Huguenot  origin,  which  is  equivalent  to 
saying  that  its  members  were  earnest  in   the  cause  of  civil 


12  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

and  religious  liberty.  Her  paternal  grandfather  was  chap- 
lain to  the  first  American  Congress,  and  because  of  his 
staunch  loyaltj  to  the  Union  cause,  was  known  as  "  the 
fighting    parson." 

Upon  her  mothers  side  she  was  the  granddanghter  of 
Divie  Bethune,  a  leading  merchant  in  the  city  of  New  York 
in  the  early  part  of  this  century.  His  intellectual  ability, 
skill  and  energy,  gave  him  a  prominent  place  among  the 
business  men  of  his  time,  and  though  he  died  in  the  prime 
of  life,  he  left  a  handsome  estate  to  his  family.  Mrs. 
Stewart's  great-grandmother  was  the  Isabella  Graham  so 
well  known  for  her  benevolent  and  charitable  work,  and 
elevated  religious  character,  who  is  enshrined  in  the  mem- 
ory of  many  now  living  as  a  type  of  that  rare  union  of 
faith  and  works  which  designates  the  true  follower  of 
Christ,  and  is  especially  remembered  as  the  founder  of 
the  first  orphan  asylum  in  the  United  States.  In  the  phil- 
anthropy ol  Isabella  Graham,  in  the  ardor  and  energy  of 
"  the  fighting  parson,"  in  the  religious  zeal  and  mental 
ability  of  her  father,  we  can  easily  trace  the  same  qualities 
which  were  so  noticeably  prominent  in  the  life  of  Mrs. 
Stewart.  She  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  her  pious  ances- 
try as  her  "glorious  heritage,"  and  her  life  made  it  evident 
that  other  things  besides  money  are  transmitted  to  a 
child,  that  the  mysterious  and  infinitely  more  important 
inheritance  called  character,  those  tendencies  for  good  or 
evil  which  influence  future  generations  long  after  we  are 
forgotten,  are  even  more  surely  transmitted. 

In  the  winter  of  1838-9,  when  nine  years  of  age,  Mrs. 
Stewart  came  to  Detroit,  and  this  city  was  her  home  ever 
after.  She  was  married  on  April  6,  1852,  to  Dr.  Morse 
Stewart,  and  became  the  mother  of  six  children,  five  of 
whom  survive  her.     Although  her  married  life  was  one  of 


BIOGRAPHY.  13 

great  happiness,  she  was  not  exempt  from  the  many  cares 
and  duties  inseparable  from  the  management  of  a  large 
household,  and  the  education  of  a  family.  She  was  an 
unusually  devoted  wife  and  mother,  and  in  tlie  sick  room 
was  a  skillful,  tender  and  unwearied  nurse.  Her  charity 
truly  "  began  at  home,"  and  all  other  work  was  set  aside  if 
husband  or  children  needed  her  services.  Her  heart,  how- 
ever, was  too  large  to  be  wholly  confined  to  the  domestic 
circle,  or  absorbed  by  the  duties  which  with  many  women 
serve  as  an  excuse  for  limited  activity.  She  longed  to  com- 
fort and  help  the  sorrowful  and  unhappy  outside  of  the 
sheltered  and  fortunate  home  Providence  had  given  her. 

Her  work  in  connection  with  the  public  charities  of 
Detroit  began  in  1860,  with  tlie  organization  of  the  Home 
of  the  Friendless.  She  was  the  first  to  propose  the  organ- 
ization of  this  institution,  always  held  a  prominent  place 
upon  its  Board,  and  for  many  years  served  as  its  president, 
and  held  that  office  at  the  time  of  her  decease.  In  con- 
nection with  this  institution  she  established  and  for  many 
years  edited  the  "  Home  Messenger,"  and  it  subsequently 
became  the  organ  of  several  of  the  Protestant  charities  of 
the  city.  It  may  be  proper  to  mention  in  this  connection 
"  The  Home  Messenger  Keceipt  Book,"  which  was  sug- 
gested and  compiled  by  her,  and  has  passed  through  three 
editions,  each  one  of  which  was  completed  at  an  expendi- 
ture of  no  little  time  and  painstaking,  and  all  but  a  few  of 
tlie  last  sold,  the  profits  from  the  sales  accruing  to  the  ben- 
efit of  the  Home  of  the  Friendless  institution.  The  idea 
of  an  "  Old  Ladies'  Home "  was  also  first  conceived  by 
her,  and  carried  out  through  the  liberality  of  Mrs.  Mary 
Thompson,  who  fully  and  coni])letely  equipped  and  endowed 
the  commodious  establishment  known  as  "  The  Thompson 
Home  for  Old   Ladies." 


14  MES.    MORSE   STEWART. 

As  is  indicated  elsewhere,  the  organization  of  the  Detroit 
Association  of  Cliarities  was  also  due  to  Mrs.  Stewart's 
untiring  labor.  In  1875-6,  while  in  Europe,  she  became 
interested  in  a  similar  sj^stera  then  existing  in  the  city  of 
London,  and  procured  papers  and  descriptions  of  its  meth- 
ods of  work,  and  upon  her  return  home  devised  a  plan  for 
adapting  it  to  Detroit.  She  then  communicated  with  the 
mayor,  asking  him  to  call  a  meeting  of  citizens  to  consider 
the  subject.  Tlie  mayor  responded  promptly,  a  meeting 
was  called  at  his  oihce,  and  as  a  result  the  Association  of 
Charities  was  organized,  and  has  been  in  continued  exist- 
ence and  workinsf  order  since  that  time. 

The  last  of  Mrs.  Stewart's  many  good  works,  and  one 
which  enlisted  her  warmest  sympathies,  was  the  estab- 
lishing of  the  Woman's  Christian  Association.  Her  for- 
mer work  had  been  more  for  those  who  had  become  help- 
less and  dependent,  but  it  had  been  the  desire  of  her  life  to 
see  young  women  so  trained  to  self-support  and  self-reliance 
that  if  reverses  came  they  might  be  able  to  provide  for 
themselves,  and  maintain  the  self-respect  which  comes  from 
honest  and  independent  labor  ;  and  as  all  good  training  must 
have  a  genuine  religious  basis,  she  wished  the  institution  to 
partake  of  the  nature  of  a  Christian  school  and  home.  In 
order  to  meet  these  demands  the  Woman's  Christian  Asso- 
sociation  was  originated.  Womanly  sympathy,  however, 
has  enlarged  the  sphere  of  its  benevolence,  and  the  work 
has  not  been  wholly  confined  to  women  ;  in  several  instances 
helpless  boys  and  men,  for  whom  no  other  refuge  seemed 
open,  have  been  aided  and  cared  for.  It  was  the  ardent 
desire  of  Mrs.  Stewart  to  see  this  organization  established 
in  a  home  of  its  own.  The  last  effort  in  which  she  was 
engaged  was  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  end,  and  in 
reply  to  an  inquiry  in  regard  to  her  hopes  and  expectations, 


BIOGRAPHY.  15 

she  said  :  "  I  have  done  what  I  could  ;  my  phins  and  metliods 
may  not  prevail,  but  I  have  no  concern  about  ultimate  suc- 
cess ;  it  is  Christ's  work,  and  He  will  take  care  of  it."     Her 
associate  members  on  the  Board  were  greatly  affected  by  the 
death  of  their  President,  but  feel  as  she  did,  that   the  work 
is  "  Christ's  work,"  and  that  they  are  called  upon  to  redouble 
their  energy  now  that  their  strong  adviser  is  taken  away." 
In  reviewing  the  long  list  of  Mrs.  Stewart's  benevolent 
works,  it  may  also  be  stated  that  Detroit  owes  Harper  Hos- 
pital to  a  suggestion  made  by  her.     The  facts  are  that  when 
Mr.  Harper  decided  to  make  his  will,  he  sent  for  his  old 
friend  and  pastor.  Dr.  Duffield,  and  told  him  that  his  design 
was  to  leave  his  large  property  to  the  First  P.resbyterian 
Church  of  Detroit.    Dr.  Duffield  advised  differently,  but  said 
if  he  wished  to  give  his  property  for  religious  and  charitable 
purposes,  making  the  church  his  almoner,  he  would  take  the 
matter  under  consideration    and  advise  with  him  further. 
Mr.  Harper  then  gave  him  to  understand  that  it  was  his 
intention  to  convey  his  property  through  him,  as  he  had 
implicit  confidence  in  his  integrit}'.     Subsequently  Dr.  Duf- 
field brought  up  the  subject  in  his  own  home,  remarking 
that  the  church  had  no  need  of  such  a  property,  and  that  he 
was  somewhat  puzzled  as  to  how  to  advise  Mr.  Harper.     His 
daughter,  who  was  present,  then  said  :  "  Father,  Dr.  Stewart 
says  the  charity  Detroit  specially  needs  is  a  Protestant  hos- 
pital."    "  That's  true,"  was  the  reply,  and  as  the  result  of 
this  conversation   Mr.    Harper's  gift   was  directed  to   the 
founding  of  the  hospital  which   bears  his   name.     Nancy 
Martin's  contribution  to  the  same  object  was  also  made  out 
of  her  regard  for,  and  confidence  in,  Dr.  Duffield.     Mrs. 
Stewart,  who  knew  her  well,  had  frequent  conversations 

*  The  following  eutry  is  found  on  a  fly-leaf  of  her  Bible  :  "  Marching  orders  for 
the  Woman's  Christian  Association  received  September  15,  1885,  at  5  o'clock  a.  m. 
G.J  forward !    Slack  not ! " 


16  MRS.    MORSP:   STEWART. 

with  her  as  to  the  disposal  of  lier  property  in  the  line  of 
the  same  charity  upon  which  Mr.  Harper  had  decided  ;  and 
it  may  be  proper  to  state  that  she  always  regretted  that  the 
contribution  of  the  woman  had  not  received  the  same  rec- 
osfnition  as  that  of  tlie  man.  She  felt  that  a  maternity 
department  in  connection  with  the  hospital  should  have 
commemorated  the  name  of  Mrs.  Martin. 

Among  other  works  carried  out  b}''  the  wonderful  energy 
and  executive  ability  of  Mrs,  Stewart,  was  one  of  a  patriotic 
character.  During  the  dark  days  of  our  civil  war,  she 
opened  a  correspondence  throughout  the  State,  soliciting 
supplies  for  the  soldiers,  and  tendering  the  use  of  her  own 
residence  as  a  place  to  receive,  arrange,  and  ship  them. 
Her  suggestions  brought  a  quick  and  generous  response,  and 
for  weeks  she  worked  almost  single-handed,  shipping  sup- 
plies by  rail  and  express  to  various  points  wliere  Michigan 
soldiers  were  stationed,  and  when  the  work  so  enlarged  as 
to  require- more  help,  she  turned  it  over  to  an  organization 
composed  of  representative  ladies  in  the  city  and  State. 

In  its  early  days,  Mrs.  Stewart  was  an  active  member  of 
the  "Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union." 

It  was  while  engaged  in  this  work  that  she  became 
impressed  with  the  condition  of  a  large  class  of  young  girls 
in  our  city  wlio,  for  want  of  proper  home  training  and 
restraint,  were  allowed  to  walk  tlie  streets,  and  were  thus 
brought  in  contact  with  vicious  people  of  both  sexes,  often 
to  their  ruin.  To  meet  the  wants  of  this  class,  she  devised 
the  project  of  a  State  institution  for  the  religious  and  moral 
training  of  young  girls  found  entering  upon  a  vicious  life. 
Time  and  thought  were  ungrudgingl}^  given  towards  per- 
fecting, and  carrying  into  execution  a  plan  for  accomplish- 
ing this  purpose.  To  this  end  she  spent  several  days  at 
Lansing,   in   the   spring  of  1879,  during  a  session    of  the 


BIOGRAPHY.  17 

Legislature  of  which  our  present  U.  S.  Senator,  Hon.  T. 
W.  Pahiier,  was  a  member,  and  his  active  sympathy  and 
co-operation  greatly  facilitated  her  efforts,  which  resulted 
in  the  present  Reformatory  for  Girls,  located  in  Adrian, 
the  bill  for  which  was  formulated  by  herself. 

A  little  mission  called  the  "  Bethel,"  was  for  a  long  time 
with  her  a  favorite  place  for  Christian  work.  In  it  she  met 
a  class  who  gathered  once  or  twice  a  week  for  bible  read- 
ings, and  no  meetings  were  so  well  attended  as  those  when 
she  presided.  She  was  a  favorite  teacher,  always  had  a 
clear  apprehension  of  her  subject,  and  a  happy  and  lucid 
manner  of  presenting  her  thoughts. 

She  was  also  active  in  two  local  organizations  for  char- 
itable and  religious  work — the  Detroit  branch  of  the 
"McAll  Mission"  in  Paris,  France,  and  the  "Woman's 
Indian  Association."  Of  the  latter  she  was  vice-president 
np  to  the  time  of  her  death. 

Interested  in  all  objects  for  the  elevation  of  society,  Mrs. 
Stewart  took  a  prominent  part  in  organizing  the  Art  Loan 
Exhibition  of  1883,  whose  complete  success  paved  the  way 
for  the  present  beautiful  Museum  of  Art,  of  which  Detroit 
is  justly  proud.  Those  who  worked  with  her  for  this 
object,  will  remember  days  of  discouragement,  when  but 
for  her  energy  the  work  might  have  been  abandoned. 

From  long  observation  in  the  Home  of  the  Friendless 
work,  she  had  come  to  feel  deeply  the  need  of  some  means 
of  correcting  a  crying  evil  in  the  ill  usage  of  children,  and 
the  adoption  of  stringent  measures  for  protection  against 
imnatural  parents  and  inhuman  guardians.  Within  the  last 
year  of  her  life  she  had  been  in  correspondence  with  organ- 
izations in  other  States,  having  for  their  object  this  purpose, 
and  had  gathered  material  in  the  form  of  papers,  pamphlets, 
etc.,  descriptive  of  their  methods  of  work,  with  a  view,  it 


18  MRS.  MORSE   STEWART. 

is  believed,  of  establishing  similar  efforts  in  Detroit.  Bat 
this  must  remain  among  the  unfinished  things  which  her 
ever  active  mind  was  continually  devising  for  the  relief  of 
suffering  humanity. 

Among  Mrs.  Stewart's  miscellaneous  writings,  a  paper 
will  be  found,  published  some  years  ago,  which  shows  how 
for  a  long  time  this  subject  had  occupied  her  mind. 

When,  in  1862,  she  first  established  her  summer  home 
in  Grosse  Pointe,  on  the  shore  of  the  beautiful  Lake  St. 
Clair,  she  found  there  a  considerable  Protestant  commu- 
nity, with  no  church  or  Sunday  school  in  the  neighborhood. 
Having  secured  the  co-operation  of  the  city  residents,  she 
promptly  set  herself  to  the  task  of  organizing  a  Sunday 
school  in  the  township  school  house.  Not  content  with 
this,  she  invited  the  pastors  of  city  churches  to  go  there 
and  preach  on  Sunday  afternoons,  the  results  of  which  were 
so  promising  that  she  found  it  a  comparatively  easy  thing  to 
secure  money  sufficient  for  the  erection  of  a  house  of  wor- 
ship. It  was  then  what  was  known  as  an  omnibus  church  ; 
clergymen  from  the  different  pulpits  of  the  city  conducted 
the  simple  service  of  this  truly  primitive  church.  Now  it 
is  well  organized  and  thriving,  with  a  clergyman  of  its  own, 
over  forty  communicants,  and  a  large  attendance  both  win- 
ter and  summer. 

This  brief  outline  of  a  life  work  filled  with  a  noble 
benevolence,  gives  but  a  faint  idea  of  her  striking  char- 
acter. She  possessed  a  fine  personal  presence,  and  a  digni- 
fied bearing,  a  brilliant  mind,  strongly  tending  to  intel- 
lectual pursuits,  with  social  gifts,  and  a  charm  of  manner 
which  made  her  remarkable  in  any  circle.  She  willingly 
put  aside  all  personal  indulgence,  gave  up  study  in  which 
she  delighted,  and  society  of  which  she  was  an  ornament, 
to  work  for  others.     It  mattered  not  who  they  were,  the 


BIOGRAPHY.  19 

soldier,  the  orphan,  the  old,  the  young,  helpless  childhood 
or  more  helpless  age,  the  honest  and  self-respecting  poor,  or 
the  fallen  and  degraded,  all  alike  came  under  her  ministry. 
As  none  Avere  beneath  the  compassion  of  her  Divine  Master, 
so  none  were  beyond  the  pale  of  her  sympathy  and  aid. 
The  inspiration  to  such  a  life  must  always  be  love  to  God, 
which  finds  its  expression  in  love  to  num  ;  but  to  accom- 
plish her  work  otiier  qualities  were  necessary,  and  these  she 
possessed  in  abundance.  She  had  a  clear  mind,  great  power 
of  organization,  a  serene  cheerfulness  which  never  faltered, 
and  the  facile  and  ready  use  of  her  pen.  These  were 
among  the  gifts  which  enabled  her  to  do  so  much,  but 
o-reater  than  all  was  the  unwavering  faith  that  Divine 
assistance  would  certainly  be  given  to  all  earnest  Christian 
endeavors. 

All  her  work  seemed  cumulative  in  character;  it  was 
continually  being  amplified  and  rounded  out  into  greater 
usefulness  and  perfection.  But  in  the  midst  of  it  all, 
her  beautiful  life  came  to  a  close,  and  rarely  has  such  a 
bereavement  fallen  upon  the  city  as  came  upon  Detroit,  on 
the  morning  of  May  27,  1888,  when  the  announcement 
was  made  of  her  sudden  decease.  Stricken  down  in  the 
prime  of  a  noble  life  of  active  benevolence,  the  cause  of 
Christian  philanthropy  lost  in  her  one  of  its  most  able  sup- 
porters. It  is,  however,  a  useful  lesson  to  other  lives  to 
learn  how  much  good  can  be  accomplisiied,  how  many 
charitable  enterprises  established,  by  the  enthusiasm  ami 
devotion  of  one  large-hearted  and  high-minded  woman. 
The  benetifc  of  such  a  life  is  not  etided  in  the  grave, 
for  the  remembrance  of  her  untiring  labor  for  the  destitute 
and  the  unfortunate  must  stinmiate  others  to  follow  in  the 
same  patii. 


'^ximvixl  Address. 


REV.  A.  H.  KELLOGG,  D.  D. 

There  are  many  things  that  come  to  mind  to  say  as  we 
stand  here  to-da}^,  but  there  is  not  time  to  saj'  them  all  as 
we  would  like. 

Mrs.  Stewart  was  so  well-known  in  this  community,  and 
so  thoroughly  understood,  that  it  would  be  a  work  of  super- 
erogation indeed  to  attempt  a  portraiture  ;  but  there  are 
certain  traits  that  I  desire  to  emphasize. 

(1)  Were  she  able  to  speak,  I'm  sure  she  would  herself 
empluisize  the  fact  that  she  came  of  a  pious  ancestry.  In 
this  land  of  ours  we  entertain  no  such  foolish  notions 
respecting  nobility,  I  am  glad  to  say,  as  they  cherish 
across  the  sea.  We  do  not  refer  now  to  mere  heredity. 
But  there  is  a  magnificent  and  glorious  heritage  coming  out 
of  the  past,  when  that  past  has  been  in  the  line  of  God's 
covenant.  God  has  a  covenant  people  on  the  earth  still. 
The  promise  that  embraces  "  thousands"  of  generations  of 
them  that  love  Him  is  surel}''  a  thing  of  priceless  value. 
This  is  sometimes  misunderstood,  and  men,  misunderstand- 
ing, presume  upon  it.  It  is  said  of  Aaron  Burr,  scapegrace 
though  he  was,  that  he  believed  in  his  ultimate  salvation, 
simply  because  he  was  a  covenant-child.  But  grace  does 
not  run  in  the  blood  in  any  such  sense.  A  covenant  is  based 
on  an  explicit  understanding,  and  in  the  89th  psalm  we 
are  taught  that  the  "  everlasting "  covenant  God  made 
with  David,  did  not  propose  to  overlook  anj'  violation  of  its 
provisions  on  the  part  of  His  children.  While,  therefore, 
there  is  scarcely  anything  so  precious  as  such  an  heritage. 


FUNERAL    ADDRESS.  21 

there  is  no  folly  so  great  as  to  presume  upon  it,  just  as 
there  is  no  sin  so  great  as  contempt  for  it  or  the  bartering 
of  it  awaj'.  When  a  covenant-child  opens  its  heart  to 
the  Divine  overtures,  then  is  learned  the  wealth  of  bless- 
ing secured  by  it.  It  was  in  this  that  Mrs.  Stewart 
rejoiced.  It  might  well  inspire  her  with  that  self-respect 
and  honest  pride  that  distinguished  her,  when  she  remem- 
bered how  father  and  grandfather,  and  great-grandfather 
had  been  loyal  and  faithful  sons  of  God — servants  of 
God  upon  whom  a  covenant  God  had  bestowed  abundant 
honor. 

(2)  "  The  grace  of  God  hestoioed  upon  her  was  not  in 
vain.^^  I  hold  in  my  hands  her  bible.  It  is  a  sort  of  reHex 
of  her  character.  There  is  scarcely  a  page  of  it  that  she  has 
not  by  markings,  dates,  comments,  connected  with  her 
dail^^  life  and  inner  experiences.  She  has  herself  in  this 
way  marked  tlie  passage  (Acts  26:19)  where  St,  Paul,  tell- 
ing to  King  Agrippa  the  story  of  his  conversion  and  of  the 
Divine  call  that  came  to  him  on  the  way  to  Damascus, 
avows,  "  whereupon,  Oh,  King  Agrippa,  /  was  not  dis- 
obedient icuto  the  heavenly  visioji^  Mrs.  Stewart  ver^'^ 
early  discovei-ed  her  mission  in  like  manner,  we  may  say, 
indeed,  inherited  it,  at  least  found  an  inspii'ation  for  it  in 
the  example  of  the  noble  woman,  her  great-grand motiier 
whose  name  she  bore.  I  am  told  that  wherever  she  went 
even  in  those  last  days  at  the  ''  Oakland,"  the  well-thumbed 
memoir  of  Isabella  Graham  was  taken  along.  Yonder  cor- 
ridor is  adorned  with  a  portrait  of  that  noble  woman,  who 
was  such  a  worker  for  the  Master  in  those  early  days.  And 
we  can  well  believe,  that  as  she  went  out  and  came  into  this 
home  of  hers,  the  sight  of  the  portrait,  and  the  traditions 
that  clustered  around  it,  often  nerved  herself  for  some 
ai'diious  toil. 


22  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

Is  there  iiny  society  for  distinctively  Christian  work,  or 
any  association  in  this  city  for  the  improvement  of  the  con- 
dition of  tlie  deserving  poor,  or  for  the  relief  of  the  nnfor- 
tunate,  or  for  the  protection  of  the  weak  and  the  defense- 
less, that  ever  appealed  to  her  in  vain  ? 

Nay,  of  how  many  societies  in  Detroit  had  she  the  direc- 
tion and  the  shaping? 

Did  ever  woman  devote  herself  and  her  influence  more 
unreservedly,  more  unselfishlj',  more  untiringly,  to  the 
betterment  of  society  ? 

The  presence  here  to-day  of  representatives  of  almost 
every  charitable  society  in  this  charitable  city,  will  attest  her 
all-embracing  charity.  And  methinks  there  are  many  more 
who  would  like  to  be  here,  who  have  been  the  recipients  of 
her  bounty,  who,  were  they  here,  would  be  sure  to  repeat 
the  story  told  in  the  Acts  (9:39),  of  Dorcas,  "that  woman 
who  was  full  of  good  works  and  alms  deeds,  which  she  did,'' 
who  sickened  and  died,  and  who,  when  Peter  came  to  bury 
her,  was  surrounded  by  the  ''  widows  weeping  and  showing 
the  coats  and  garments  which  Dorcas  made  while  alie  was 
with  them."  Yes !  our  beloved  sister  caught  the  spirit  of 
the  Master,  and  understood  wdiat  he  meant  by  His  call  to 
her,  "  Follow  me."  She  was  not  "  disohedient  unto  the 
heavenly  msiony  "  The  grace  of  God  bestowed  upon  her 
was  not  in  vain." 

(3)  We  must  not  forget  in  this  connection  to  emphasize 
the  fact,  that  Mrs.  Stewart  was  a  founder  and  an  originator 
in  the  field  of  Cliristian  work.  She  was  not  content  merely 
to  follow  in  the  beaten  tracks  of  charit}'.  She  was  fertile  in 
devising  new  forms  of  work.  She  was  the  founder,  in 
Detroit  at  least,  of  several  societies  that  have  already 
developed  into  important  institutions — notably,  the  "  Home 
of  the  Friendless,"  of  which  for  twenty-five  years  she  was 


FUNERAL   ADDRESS.  23 

tlie  honored  president.  She  was  also  the  main  inspira- 
tion in  such  institutions  as  the  "  Thompson  Home,"  the 
"Woman's  Christian  Association,"  and  in  such  movements 
as  work  among  working  girls. 

It  is  surely  something  in  this  busy  age,  and  at  a  period 
when  the  activities  of  the  church  seem  to  have  occupied 
every  department  of  Christian  labor,  to  have  had  the  fore- 
sight, and  the  courage,  and  the  perseverance,  requisite  to 
introduce  something  new.  She  was  ever  "devising  liberal 
things,"  occupying  every  open  door,  following  providential 
indications,  and  stimulating  others  to  do  likewise. 

Surely  it  must  have  been  a  source  of  gratitude,  as  of  joy 
unutterable  in  reviewing  life,  as  St.  Paul  felt,  to  perceive 
that  she  had  "not  lived  in  vain,"  that  her  "profiting  had 
appeared  to  all,"  that  she  had  infused  into  many  an  associa- 
tion something  of  her  own  spirit  and  energy,  that  she  liad 
laid  the  foundation  of  many  noble  charities,  that  "  the  grace 
of  God  bestowed  upon  her  had  not  been  in  vain." 

As  we  again  open  her  much-marked  bible  and  turn  to  its 
last  page,  we  find  she  has  written  there,  as  though  she 
desired  it  to  be  her  own  commentary  on  a  life  busy  and 
abundant  in  lai)ors,  "  Yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  GodP 

(4)  We  must  not  forget,  moreover,  in  this  review  of 
Mrs.  Stewart's  life-story,  to  emphasize  the  Christian  char- 
acter she  tnaintained  in  social  life.  She  was  no  recluse. 
Providence  had  endowed  her  with  more  than  ordinary  intel- 
lectual and  social  gifts.  He  had  given  her  a  social  position 
in  the  community  which  none  more  clearly  recognized  than 
herself.  And  she  accepted  all,  with  a  sense  of  her  oppor- 
tunities and  her  grave  responsibilities. 

She  was  readily  and  universally,  as  I  understand,  accorded 
the  place  of  a  leader  in  Detroit  society.     She  brought  to 


24  MKS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

lier  position  a  marked  individuality.  All  felt  instinctively 
the  strength  of  her  character  and  the  influence  of  that  per- 
sonality into  which  she  early  developed. 

How  did  she  fulfill,  we  may  inquire,  those  important 
functions  that  attach  to  a  lady  of  position  and  culture  and 

influence  ? 

We  all  know  what  an  instinctive  hatred  of  "  shams  "  she 
manifested,  as  also  of  the  hollow,  meaningless  ceremonials, 
and  of  the  insincerities  in   friendships,  that  mark  a  mere 

wordly  society. 

It  was  with  such  feelings  that  she  set  herself  the  task, 
with  that  force  of  character  and  untiring  energy  that  was 
undaunted  by  difficulties,  to  elevate  the  tone  of  society  in 
which  she  was  a  leader,  to  counteract  its  selfishness,  to 
permeate  it  with  something  like  principle,  to  mould  it  to 
usefulness.  And  I  presume  there  is  no  one  here  but  will 
acknowledge  the  purity  of  her  purpose,  and  that  her  Chris- 
tian character  was  in  no  other  direction  shown  so  conspicu- 
ously as  in  the  way  in  which  she  endeavored  to  mould  the 
circle  of  society  in  which  she  found  herself  by  birth  and 
education. 

She  could  glory  in  an  honorable  ancestry ;  she  came  of  a 
covenanted  stock  ;  she  was  endowed  with  marked  mental 
gifts  and  aptitudes  for  social  life ;  she  moved  in  the  inner 
circle  of  society.  She  might  have  been  content  with  all  this 
—might  have  settled  down  to  a  life  of  ignoble  ease  and  mere 
self-gratification— proud  with  a  foolish  pride  of  family  and 
position.  But,  no!  She  heard  the  Divine  call,  she  was 
obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,  she  acknowledged  the 
Master's  right  to  her  gifts  and  influence,  she  was  ever  ready 
to  confess  her  faith  in  Jesus  among  rich  and  poor. 

Like  her  Master,  she  "  went  about  doing  good,"  and  what 


FUNERAL   ADDRESS.  2o 

she  did,  she  did  with  heartiness  and  with  an  energy  that 
was  infectious.  To  the  Last  she  spared  not  her  strength,  and 
died  with  many  noble  schemes  yet  unfinished. 

Ah  !  who  among  you  here  to-day  that  can  command  time 
and  means  will  take  up  these  unfinished  plans  and  bring 
them  to  perfection  ? 

She  died,  as  I  can  believe  she  would  have  chosen  to  die, 
in  the  midst  of  her  labors.  It  is  not  given  to  any  of  us  to 
choose  the  time  nor  yet  the  manner  of  our  departure,  but 
who  is  there  here  that  can  fail  to  see  how  peculiarly  gra- 
cious God  was  to  this  child  of  His,  in  this  very  respect.  She 
was  summoned,  not  when  her  day  of  usefulness  was  a  thing 
of  the  past  and  long  since  forgotten,  but  in  the  midst  of  it, 
when  companions  in  labor  will  sadly  miss  her,  when  the 
character  of  the  work  she  was  doing  stands  out  in  clearest 
outline,  and  when  others  will  be  aroused  to  take  up  her 
work  and  finish  it.  Rest  assured  God  knows  when  to  call 
to  Himself  His  children  and  faithful  servants.  Such  is  the 
view  heaven  takes  of  life  and  death.  "  I  lieard  a  voice 
from  heaven  saying  unto  me,  write,  blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth;  yea,  saith  the 
Spirit,  that  the}''  may  rest  from  their  labors ;  and  their 
works  do  follow  them." 

To  us  who  merely  look  at  such  a  departure  from  our 
earthly  standpoint,  the  removal  of  so  useful  a  Christian 
seems  deplorable.  To  the  church  it  is  a  bereavement.  To 
sister  Christian  workers  it  is  the  loss  of  a  sympathetic  nature, 
full  of  experience,  wise  in  counsel,  so  capable,  so  energetic, 
80  helpful. 

It  does  seem  a  robbing  of  earth  to  enrich  heaven.-  Jhit 
up  yonder,  where  all  things  are  looked  at  in  their  general 
bearing  on  the  gracious  purpose  of  God,  there  is  the  lan- 
guage of  gratulation  only,    "blessed."     It  is    not  only  an 

4 


26  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

angel's  way  of  looking  at  it.     It  is  the  dictum  of  the  ever 
blessed  Spirit,  "yea,  saith  the  Spirit." 

They  "  rest  from  their  labors  and  their  worJcs  do  follow 
them.''^  That  is  the  ground  of  the  Spirit's  judgment.  The 
influence  started  by  the  saint  gathered  to  rest  still  abides 
and  develops  in  the  church  and  in  society.  "Their  works 
do  follow  them." 

Moreover,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  being  "  baptized  for 
the  dead"  (1  Cor.  15  :  29).  The  mantle  of  an  Elijah  falls 
on  an  Elisha.  A  Cliristian  mother  leaves  to  her  sons  and 
daughters,  not  only  an  honorable  name  and  a  love  that  is 
imperishable,  but  a  new  motive  for  life  and  an  inspiration 
to  consecration  to  the  same  or  similar  ministries. 

What  a  different  view,  then,  from  ours  does  heaven  take 
of  the  death  of  a  saint.  To  the  view  of  men,  "  one  event 
happeneth  to  all,"  for  the  righteous  die  equally  with  the 
wicked,  but  in  very  truth,  how  wide  the  difference !  God 
is  near  his  child,  supporting,  noticing  all,  using  invisible 
ministries,  and  these  carry  her  away  singing  the  harvest- 
home.  The  Redeemer  is  "  glorified  in  them."  Even  their 
dust  is  precious  in  his  eyes,  for  some  day  by  his  mighty 
power  it  is  to  be  recalled  to  an  immortal  life,  with  a  beauty 
and  a  glory  all  its  own. 

Weep  not,  then,  for  the  departed  one.  She  has  entered 
into  rest.  The  battle  has  been  fought,  the  victory  won. 
Her  influence  here  will  widen  yet  more  and  more  with 
abundant  benediction. 

Follow  her  faith.  Imitate  her  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  word  of  God.  Gather  from  her  example,  a  Divine  call 
to  thyself,  oh,  woman,  whosoever  thou  art,  to  do  what  thy 
hands  find  to  do  with  thy  might. 

God  grant  that  even  her  death  may  prove  to  some  here  a 
veritable  i-esurrection  unto  life. 


esoTutxows. 


WESTERN  SEAMAN'S  FRIEND  SOCIETY. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Western 
Seamen's  Friend  Society,  Detroit  Branch,  held  at  the  Betliel 
bnilding  June  4,  1888,  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  Board  deeply  laments  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Isabella  G.  D.  Stewart,  an  honorary  member  of  this 
body,  and  offers  most  heartfelt  sympathy  to  the  husband 
and  family,  the  friends,  community,  church,  and  philan- 
thropic societies  that  have  been  thus  bereaved. 

2.  That  her  active  interest  and  participation  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Bethel,  from  the  date  of  its  foundation  ;  her  wise 
and  practical  suggestions  for  its  management  ;  her  pecuni- 
ary and  other  contributions  to  its  prosperity  and  success  ; 
her  remarkably  able,  energetic,  and  devoted  conduct  of  its 
religious  meetings  from  time  to  time  ;  and  the  inspiration 
given  to  the  Board  by  her  occasional  presence  and  counsel, 
entitle  her  memory  to  be  held  in  most  grateful  remem- 
brance by  this  society. 

3.  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Board,  a  public  memorial 
meeting  should  beheld  at  an  early  convenient  date,  at  which 
may  be  represented  all  the  local  charities  and  religious 
bodies  with  which  her  activities  were  associated  ;  and  that 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board,  of  which  she  was 
also  a  member,  is  hereby  authorized  and  instructed  to  take 
such  steps  to  that  end  as  they  may  deem  advisable. 

4.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  to  the 

family  of  our  deceased  sister  and  co-worker. 

(A  true  copy.)  HENRY  A.  FOJtl), 

Detroit,  June  5,  1888.  Secretary. 


28  MRS.   MOKSE   STEWART. 

WOMAN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Association,  the  following  resolutions  were  unan- 
imously adopted : 

W/ie?'eas,  It  has  seemed  best  to  our  Heavenly  Father  to 
remove  from  earth  in  the  prime  of  life  our  much  loved 
friend  and  President,  Mrs.  Isabella  G.  D.  Stewart,  we  deem 
it  not  only  fit  but  desirable  on  our  part  to  pay  a  tribute  of 
respect  to  her  memory  ;  therefore 

Resolved^  That  with  no  common,  formal  sorrow  we  pub- 
lish to  each  other  and  this  community  the  expression  of 
our  high  regard  and  love  for  our  departed  friend  and  fellow- 
worker,  our  attachment  to  her  as  a  friend,  our  admiration  of 
her  as  a  Christian  worker. 

Resolved,  Tliat  we  do  most  heartily  bear  record  to  the 
uniform  courtesy  that  characterized  all  her  intercourse  with 
us,  and  her  interest  in  the  prosperity'-  of  this  association. 

Resolved,  That  the  character  of  Mrs.  Stewart  for  unswerv- 
ing integrity  and  earnestness,  challenges  our  admiration,  and 
will  remain  a  monument  to  her  memory  more  enduring 
than  marble. 

Resolved,  Tliat  while  we  sincerely  sympathize  with  the 
whole  community  in  the  loss  of  one  so  dear  to  many  of 
them,  more  kindly  and  tenderly  still,  would  we  join  witli 
the  afflicted  family  in  mourning  her  loss,  and  we  would 
herewith  tender  them  our  sympathy  and  condolence  in  this 
their  great  affliction. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  placed  upon  the 
records  of  this  association  and  that  they  be  published  in  the 
journals  of  this  citj',  and  a  copy  of  the  same  be  sent  to  the 
family.  THE  COMMITTEE. 


RESOLUTIONS.  29 


THOMPSON  HOME  FOR  OLD  LADIES. 

Whereas,  Mrs.  Isabella  Graham  Diiffield  Stewart,  after  a 
brief  illness,  passed  to  her  heavenly  rest,  on  Sabbath,  May 
27,  1888,  therefore  we,  the  Managers  of  the  Thompson 
Home  for  Old  Ladies,  in  which  she  was  from  the  first 
deeply  interested,  do 

Resolve,  That  in  the  removal  of  Mrs.  Stewart  from  the 
scene  of  her  earthly  labors,  not  this  Home  only,  but  the 
whole  charitable  work  of  the  city  and  the  entire  community 
suffer  a  great  and  grievous  loss. 

Of  a  stately  and  commanding  presence,  dignified,  refined 
and  cultivated,  possessing  a  strongly  marked  individuality, 
no  ordinary  executive  ability,  untiring  energy,  tenacity  of 
purpose  and  zeal  in  a  good  cause  which  no  combination 
of  adverse  circumstances  could  daunt  or  discourage,  she 
devoted  her  rare  and  remarkable  abilities  to  the  service  of 
God,  in  the  constant  endeavor  to  relieve  human  suffering 
and  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  needy. 

The  poor,  the  weak,  the  defenseless,  the  orphan,  the  for- 
saken and  the  outcast  found  in  her  a  friend,  whose  heart 
was  rich  in  sympathy,  whose  head  was  fertile  in  device,  and 
whose  hand  was  swift  and  sure  in  carrying  her  measures  of 
help  and  healing,  into  execution. 

Her  life,  though  ended  all  too  soon,  was  crowded  and 
crowned  with  works  of  faith  and  labors  of  love. 

Whilst  we  know  that  we  shall  surely  miss  the  inspiration 
of  her  wise  counsel  and  dauntless  courage,  we  bow  our 
heads,  assured  that  He  who  forgets  not  even  the  cup  of  cold 
water,  given  in  His  name,  hath  welcomed  her  as  a  "good 
and  faithful  servant "  into  the  joy  of  her  Lord. 


30  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  Dr. 
Stewart  and  the  family  of  our  deceased  sister,  as  an  expres- 
sion of  our  deep  sympathy  with  them  in  the  loss  they  have 

sustained.  MARY  THOMPSON, 

Mrs.  D.  W.  Brooks,  President. 

Secretary  pro  tern. 


WOMAN'S  INDIAN  ASSOCIATION. 

Dr.  Morse  Stewart  and  Family : 

It  is  with  deep  sorrow  that  the  "  "Woman's  Indian  Associ- 
ation "  records  the  death  of  its  honored  and  beloved  Vice- 
President,  Mrs.  I.  G,  D.  Stewart,  and  desires  to  place  on 
record  the  following : 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  remove  sud- 
denly from  this  mortal  life,  our  wise  and  zealous  associate, 
Mrs.  Stewart, 

Resolved,  That  we  bow  with  submission  to  the  will  of  an 
All-wise  Providence,  and  tender  to  her  bereaved  family  our 
sympathy  in  their  irreparable  loss.  Her  uncommon  abilities, 
consecreted  to  the  betterment  of  this  communitj^,  morally, 
socially  and  intellectually,  her  Christian  faith  constantly 
exemplified  in  her  life,  her  inspiring  presence,  will  afford 
an  example  worthy  of  emulation  to  the  women  of  Detroit. 
Her  death,  to  our  Association  a  loss — to  herself  an  endless 
gain. 

Respectfully,  with  sincerest  sympathy. 

MRS.  E.  B.  COOLIDGE, 
Mrs.  Albert  Miller,  President. 

Corresponding  Secretary. 

Detroit,  June  1st,  1888. 


RESOLUTIONS.  31 


HOME  OP  THE  FRIENDLESS. 


At  the  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Board  of  the 
"Home  of  the  Friendless"  held  June  5th,  1888,  the 
enclosed  resolutions  were  adopted. 

Whereas,  Our  Heavenly  Father  in  His  infinite  wisdom, 
has  removed  our  much  beloved  President,  Mrs.  Morse  Stew- 
art, from  her  active  usefulness  as  a  member  of  this  Board, 
and  has  left  vacant  a  chair  which  the  deceased  has  worthily 
filled  for  a  period  of  twenty -five  years,  and 

Whereas,  By  such  removal  our  hearts  are  filled  with  sor- 
row and  grief  ;  and  while  we  bow  submissive  to  His  will  we 
would  give  some  suitable  expression  to  our  sadness,  and  pay 
fitting  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  possessing  so  many 
qualities  of  head  and  heart,  which  have  ever  commanded 
our  respect  and  admiration  ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  sudden  decease  of  our  friend  and 
co-worker,  this  institution  has  lost  one  of  its  earliest  and 
most  earnest  advocates,  one  of  its  most  zealous,  wise  and 
effective  workers.  That  in  the  meeting  of  her  duties  and 
responsibilities  here  and  elsewhere,  no  labor  seemed  to 
weary  her,  no  threatened  danger  caused  her  to  falter,  and  no 
case  so  desperate  could  arise  that  was  not  overcome  by 
her  rare  gifts  of  intellect,  her  fertility  in  expedients,  her 
invariable  courtesy,  all  subordinate  as  they  were  to  an 
earnest  love  for  humanity  and  an  abiding  faith  in  the  good- 
ness of  God. 

Resolved,  That  this  Board  tender  its  words  of  condolence 
to  our  sister  Boards  o^  this  city ;  for  there  are  no  organized 
efforts  for  the  care  of  the  aged  and  infirm,  for  the  refor- 
mation of  the  profligate  and  vicious,  for  the  guiding  of  the 
fallen  and  abandoned,  for  the  care  and  training  of  innocent 


32  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

children,  where  her  head,  hand  and  heart  were  not  at  the 
front ;  so  that  all  may  say  of  her,  "  She  hath  done  what  she 
could." 

Resolved,  That  we  would  hereby  extend  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased,  our  heartfelt  sympathy  in  this,  their  great 
bereavement ;  for  a  most  devoted  and  faithful  wife,  a  gifted 
and  affectionate  sister,  a  kind,  indulgent  and  loving  mother, 
has  been  taken  away  ;  but  the  memory  of  her  is  an  inherit- 
ance which  will  be  cherished  while  life  shall  last. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the 
records  of  this  Board,  and  a  copy  thereof  be   sent  to  the 

family  of  the  deceased.  MRS.  W.  C.  DUNCAN, 

Recording  Secretary. 


PRESS  NOTICES. 
[From  the  Detroit  Free  Press,  May  28,  1888.] 

Mrs.  Isabella  G.  D.  Stewart,  the  only  daughter  in  a  family 
which  has  always  been  prominent  in  Detroit,  and  herself 
distinguished  by  a  life  devoted  to  high  purposes  in  the 
interest  of  the  public  good,  died  after  a  brief  illness  yes- 
terday morning  at  the  Oakland  house,  St.  Clair,  The 
announcement  of  her  sudden  death  will  prove  a  startling 
blow  not  only  to  the  inner  circle  of  those  who  came  into 
close  relationship  witli  the  personality  around  which  were 
thrown  the  charms  of  brilliant  natural  gifts,  broadened  by  a 
great  work  in  humanity's  behalf,  but  hundreds  of  Detroit 
households  where  her  character  and  example  have  been 
a  potent  influence,  and  where  her  memory  will  long  be 
cherished. 

A  record  of  Mrs.  Stewart's  charitable  and  philanthropic 
work  would  form  a  history  of  almost  every  enterprise  in 


PRESS   NOTICES.  33 

the    city  by  which   results  in  tliese  directions   have  been 
sought. 

Gifted  with  the  intellectuality  that  distinguishes  the 
other  members  of  the  family,  and  a  forcible  writer,  Mrs. 
Stewart  was  an  effective  advocate  for  the  many  humanita- 
rian enterprises  for  which  she  labored.  She  worked  disin- 
terestedly and  from  a  love  for  the  cause,  but  there  is 
perhaps  no  lady  in  the  West  who  is  entitled  to  greater 
recognition  for  the  good  works  which,  though  under  diffi- 
culties, she  has  accomplished. 

[From  the  Detroit  Tribune.] 

Mrs.  Stewart  was  a  woman  who  had  a  marked  individ- 
uality, and  who  united  in  herself  the  brilliancy  and  pecul- 
iarities of  two  distinguished  lines  of  ancestry.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  George  Duffield,  long  the  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Detroit,  and  he  was 
one  of  the  most  profound  and  learned  of  a  race  of  noted 
divines,  patriots  and  soldiers.  Her  maternal  great-grand- 
mother, Mrs.  Isabella  Graham,  for  whom  she  was  named, 
was  one  of  the  most  notable  women  of  her  day,  and  her 
grandmother,  Mrs.  Bethune,  was  also  a  woman  of  mark, 
being  one  of  the  founders,  and,  with  Mrs.  Alexander 
Hamilton,  one  of  the  first  directors  of  the  first  orphan 
asylum  ever  organized  in  New  York,  and  also  the  mother 
of  Rev.  George  W.  Bethune,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  American  clergymen. 

Mrs.  Stewart  was  born  at  Carlisle,  Pa.,  February  lltli, 
1830,  was  brought  to  Detroit  by  her  parents  in  1838,  and 
has  resided  here  ever  since.  She  has  always  occupied 
a  prominent  position,  and  undoubtedly  was  more  widely 
known   than    any  other   lady  in    Detroit.     Her   piitrioti^m 


34  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

was  witli  lier  a  religion,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
she  identitied  lierself  with  every  effort  to  encourage  and 
aid  tlie  Union  soldiers.  She  and  her  noble  mother  were 
the  first  in  Detroit  to  obtain  and  forward  hospital  supplies, 
and  she  was  the  founder  and  first  President  of  the  Ladies' 
Soldiers  Aid  Society,  which  was  formed  November  6,  1,861, 
and  was  the  first  organization  of  the  kind  in  the  country. 

Her  influence  was  felt  in  almost  every  effort  made  to 
assist  the  weak,  the  poor  and  the  oppressed.  In  social  mat- 
ters Mrs.  Stewart  was  a  leader,  and  her  culture  and  wonder- 
ful natural  ability  made  her  prominent  in  literary  and  art 
circles.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Conamittee 
of  the  great  Art  Loan  of  1883,  and  one  of  the  original  sub- 
scribers to  and  directors  of  the  Detroit  Museum  of  Art,  the 
building  for  which  is  now  nearly  completed.  As  would  nat- 
urally be  inferred  from  the  foregoing  sketch,  Mi's.  Stewart 
was  a  woman  of  great  decision  of  character  and  of  strong 
contrasts.  Deeply  religious,  she  was  entirely  free  from 
cant  or  superstition  ;  positive  in  everytliing,  she  was  always 
ready  to  listen  to  an  argument  and  to  confess  herself  wrong 
if  shown  to  be  so  ;  so  determined  as  to  be  almost  audacious, 
she  was  devoid  of  undue  aggressiveness ;  stern  and  uncom- 
promising in  her  condemnation  of  what  was  wrong,  she  had 
that  charity  for  the  erring  which  pardoned  a  multitude  of 
sins.  She  was  universally  respected,  and  was  beloved  by 
all  who  knew  her  well,  and  her  loss  will  be  lamented  not 
only  by  her  relatives  and  friends,  but  by  the  sick  and  needy, 
to  whom  she  was  a  comforter  and  gracious  almoner. 


[From  the  Carlisle  Dally  Herald,  Carlisle,  Pa.,  Mrs.  Stewart's  native  city.] 

When  the  family  removed  to  Detroit,  the  daughter  was 
only  nine   years  old,  and   was  a   resident   of  that   city  for 


PKESS   NOTICES.  35 

nearly  fifty  years,  where  she  became  eminently  distin- 
guished by  a  life  consecrated  to  high  purposes  in  the  inter- 
est of  humanitj^  and  the  public  well-being.  It  has  been 
honorably  said  of  her,  that  a  record  of  her  charitable  and 
philanthropic  work  would  form  a  history  of  almost  every 
enterprise  in  that  city  by  which  results  in  these  directions 
have  been  souo-ht.  A  devoted  Christian  woman,  who 
worked  disinterestedly  and  from  a  love  of  the  cause,  and 
widespread  and  lasting  has  been  her  influence  for  good. 
Her  taste  or  talent  for  such  work  may  have  been  largely 
occasioned  by  her  illustrious  great-grandmother,  after  whom 
she  was  named,  and  who  founded  in  New  York  the  first 
orphan  asylum  established  there,  and  whose  admirable  life 
and  writings  have,  through  so  many  years,  greatly  contrib- 
uted to  encourage  and  sustain  faith  and  love  and  devotion 
in  Christian  well-living  and  well-doing. 


fetters  of  Condolence. 


FROM  HER  BROTHER,  REV.  GEORGE  DUFFIELD,  D.  D. 

[Since  deceased.] 

Bloompield,  N.  J.,  May  30,  1888. 
My  Deak  Brother — Of  all  the  shocks  which  I  have 
thus  far  experienced  in  the  way  of  bereavement,  the  death  - 
of  Belle  has  been  the  most  sudden,  and  that  which  I  have 
been  the  least  able  to  bear.  1  can  only  say,  God  help  and 
pity  you  if  it  has  been  equally  a  surprise  to  yourself.  I 
know  how  much  you  loved  her  as  a  wife,  and,  in  general, 
what  you  said  of  her  to  father  at  the  golden  wedding.  1 
know  how  much  she  thought  of  you  as  a  beloved  husband, 
and  in  no  place  have  I  heard  her  speak  more  affectionately 
of  you  than  in  the  "Oakland"  two  years  since.  "I  think 
I  could  make  up  my  mind  to  any  sorrow  easier  than  to  go 
before  my  husband."  And  now  what  she  feared  has  come 
upon  her.  It  seems,  somehow,  as  if  it  would  relieve  both 
me  and  you  to  let  you  know  how  dreadfully  sudden  it  was, 
even  if  I  do  so  by  the  hand  of  an  amanuensis,  as  I  am 
utterly  unable  to  use  my  own  for  this  purpose.  Only  last 
week  I  received  a  letter  from  the  "  Oakland,"  in  which 
my  sister  wrote  : 

"  This  heading  tells  its  own  storj'-  of  where  I  am  and  what  I  am 
doing.  The  old  scenes  of  our  stay  here  two  years  ago  come  back,  and 
are  soon  set  aside  by  all  the  sequences  of  that  moment  of  rest  we  had 
together.     I  no  longer  dare  look  back.     The  past  seven  months  have 


LETTERS   OF   CONDOLENCE.  37 

tried  bone  and  muscle  to  the  quick — but  they  have  had  their  happiness 
— '  the  Lord  stood  with  me.' 

"  It  is  a  great  thing  to  Ivnow  that  each  day  brings  us  near  that  perfect 
abiding  in  Him  that  we  can  only  know  in  part  here,  but  in  the  '  most 
fair  city '  we  '  rest  in  the  long  release '  from  sin  and  sorrow. 

"I  have  felt  the  loss  of  my  dear  S.  W.  D.  each  month  more  and 
more ;  it  was  he  alone  that  linked  me  to  the  generation  to  whom  I  am 
fast  becoming  an  aged  woman. 

"This  winter  I  have  read  with  infinite  comfort,  and,  I  trust,  benefit, 
three  little  books  by  the  Rev.  Andrew  Murray,  of  Wellington,  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  entitled  'Abide  in  Christ,'  '  Like  Christ,'  and  'With  Christ 
in  the  School  of  Prayer.'  His  opening  of  the  word  is  simple,  strong 
and  clear— it  is  advanced— and  yet  he  eschews  mysticism,  sentiment, 
feeling,  and  brings  you  down  to  a  few  intensely  practical  foundation 
principles  of  'faith  and  practice' — do  you  remember  how  father  always 
used  those  two  words  together— they  go  together. 

"What  are  your  plans?  I  have  none  at  present,  and  am  enjoyiug 
to-day  with  a  keen  sense  of  its  perfection.  Belle  and  her  two  children, 
and  even  Dr.  Stewart,  are  up  here  for  a  few  days.  Write  and  tell  me 
what  3'ou  would  like  to  do.  I  have  not  a  wish  beyond  to-day  except 
that  I  may  serve  God  according  to  his  will,  which  is  like  the  salt  to  the 
bread,  and  goes  without  saying." 

I  said  I  am  not  able  to  write ;  mucli  less  am  I  able  to  go 
where  my  heart  would  prompt,  and  be  with  yon  in  the  hour 
of  your  sorrow.  My  trouble  is  weakness  of  heart,  want  of 
breath,  and  general  giving  way  of  the  nervous  system.  At 
quarter  past  three  this  morning  I  registered  in  my  little 
diary,  "My  strength  is  failing,  and  I  have  not  the  third  of 
my  respiration."  I  had  almost  said  my  soul  is  weary  of 
life  for  decreasing  breath,  but  in  the  "most  fair  city," 
where  "we  rest  in  the  long  release,"  it  is  not  so.  May  we 
all  meet  there,  father,  mother  and  children,  and  children's 
children,  and  our  joy  be  the  joy  of  our  Lord. 

O  what  a  change  does  one  death  make  in  a  family  to  one 
and  all.  I  felt  almost  certain  that  I  would  have  been  the 
iirst  of  the  children  to  go,  but  the  very  last  has  been  taken 


i>y(iiH() 


38  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART. 

that  I  expected.  Poor  Robbie !  Remember  Hattie  and 
me  to  him.  Remember  us  to  all,  and  especially  to  yourself, 
my  own  dear  and  much  afflicted  brother. 

GEORGE  DUFFIELD. 


FROM  REV.  GEO.  D.  BAKER,  D.  D.,  A  FORMER  PASTOR. 

Philadelphia,  June  2,  1888. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Stewart — You  must  permit  me  to  min- 
gle my  sincere  sympathy  with  the  tide  that  has  gone  out  to 
you  from  many  hearts  in  this  time  of  your  great  sorrow. 
Please  say  to  your'  children,  one  and  all,  that  my  thought 
and  my  prayer  have  been  much  with  them  in  this  new  and 
saddest  experience  of  their  lives.  But  God  spared  her  to 
you  and  to  them  until  she  had  wrought  within  you  all  a 
work  which  is  as  indestructible  as  it  is   beautiful.     May 

God  comfort  you. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

GEORGE  D.  BAKER. 


FROM  RT.  REV.  W.  E.  McLAREN,  D.  D.,  BISHOP  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Chicago,  May  31,  1888. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Stewart — We  are  deeply  pained  to  hear 
of  the  sad  event  which  has  fallen  so  suddenly  upon  your 
home.  Our  hearts  go  out  in  sympathy  towards  you.  She 
was  such  a  queenly  woman,  so  strong,  and  yet  so  gentle  ; 
so  gifted,  so  loving  and  beloved — one  cannot  think  of  her 
death  as  other  than  an  irreparable  loss  to  everyone  but  to 
herself.  I  have  always  regarded  her  as  one  of  tiie  noblest 
women  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  know.  May  God  help 
you  and  all  to  bear  the  burden  which  He  has  placed  upon 
you.     With  tenderest  sympath}'. 

Sincerely  yours, 

w.  E.  McLaren. 


LETTERS  OF  CONDOLENCE.  39 

FROM  A  FORMER  PASTOR. 

YoNKERS,  N.  Y.,  August  13,  1888. 
My  Dear  Dr.  Stewart — On  1113^  arrival  from  Europe  a 
few  days  ago  I  was  shocked  to  hear  for  the  first  time  of  the 
death  of  your  wife.  I  was  the  more  startled  because  at  the 
time  of  mj  leaving  Detroit,  if  there  was  any  woman  who, 
under  all  ordinary  coqtingencies,  had  the  assurance  of  a  long 
life,  I  supposed  it  was  she.  But  oh,  as  we  go  on  through 
life,  how  are  we  made  to  realize  more  and  more  that  truly  we 
"know  not  the  day  nor  the  hour."  I  remember  the  last 
time  I  sat  at  your  table,  and  we  were  talking  together  in 
regard  to  death.  Dr.  George  Duffield  quoted  a  clause  from 
a  sermon  which  he  had  heard  from  Dr.  Kellogg,  in  which 
the  latter  said  there  was  no  death  to  be  apprehended  by  the 
Christian,  since  he  had  died  already,  and  I  remember  how 
Mrs.  Stewart  seemed  to  rejoice  in  the  sentiment ;  and  cer- 
tainly we  can  rest  in  the  assurance  that  death  was  not  death 
for  her ;  that  it  was  simply  the  portal  through  which  she 
passed  to  join  that  blessed  company  among  which  we  shall 
all  be  numbered  soon.  -  "'         *  That  God  may 

richly  bless  and   comfort  you  all,   giving  to  you   light  in 
darkness,  is  the  prayer  of 

Your  sincere  friend, 

W.  A.  BARR. 


Detroit,  September  18,  1888. 
Hon.  D.  Bethtjne  Duffield  : 

Dear  Sir — Upon  my  return  from  my  European  trip,  I 
found  3'our  letter  inviting  me  to  assist  in  the  funeral  ser- 
vices of  your  dear  and  lamented  sister.  The  letter  came 
from  the  Dead  Letter  office,  and  so  never  reached  me.  * 
*        ■"        '-     It  is  very  i)leasant  to  know  that  I  was  remem- 


40  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART. 

bered  on  this  occasion.  She  never  knew  how  the  manifes- 
tation of  her  sympathy  touched  me  on  the  occasion  of  my 
son's  deatli.  I  never  expect  to  see  her  place  filled  in  this 
community.  She  was  a  poioer.  -  *  *  And  so,  one  by 
one,  we  are  rapidly  passing  into  our  rest — our  blessed  rest. 

As  ever,  yours,  D.  M.  COOPER. 


A  LIFE-LONG  FRIEND  FROM  CHILDHOOD  UP. 

Eaux  Bonnes,  Basse  Pyrinees,  June  18,  1888. 

Dear  De.  Stewart — The  very  sad  intelligence  of  dear 
Belle's  sudden  death,  which  has  reached  me  here,  has  so 
shocked  me  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  sharing  the  regret 
which  must  be  so  keenly  felt  by  you  and  her  children. 
Dear,  dear  Belle,  the  companion  of  my  girlhood,  the  sincere, 
staunch  friend  of  after  years — none  can  replace  you  in  the 
heart  of  her  who  has  so  loved  you.  I  had  looked  forward 
to  many  pleasant  hours  with  her  in  the  coming  opening  of 
the  Art  Museum,  when  lo  !  everything  seems  changed  to 
me ;  the  friend  of  my  youth  has  gone,  and  with  her  the 
"  light  of  many  days."  I  cannot  express  to  you  how  keenly 
I  feel  her  going,  and  but  for  the  glorious  hope  of  a  happy 
hereafter  for  her,  we  should  indeed  mourn  without  comfort. 
She  goes  not  empty-handed  to  lier  Maker  and  loving 
Father,  and  in  that  we  may  try  to  feel  comforted.  Tliat 
she  has  left  a  worthy  and  noble  example  to  us  all,  who  can 
doubt?  I  grieve  with  you  most  sincerely  in  the  loss  of 
yonr  companion,  your  brave,  loyal  and  loving  spouse. 


■yc  *  * 


Very  sincerely,  your  friend,  A.  M.  W. 


Db   Morse  Stewart, 

Jefferson  Ave.,  Detroit  Michigan. 


LETTERS   OF   CONDOLENCE.  41 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  June  10,  1888. 
Dr.  Morse  Stewart: 

My  Dear  Sir — Through  a  Detroit  newspaper  I  have 
received  the  sad  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Stewart. 
Hardly  anything  could  have  surprised  or  shocked  me  more. 
I  never  thought  that  I  should  survive  her.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  she  had  a  physical  strength  and  mental  vigor  which 
would  certainly  carry  her  to  a  good  old  age.  In  the  great 
sorrow  which  has  fallen  upon  you  and  your  children,  I  can 
say  nothing  which  can  console  your  grief  or  theirs,  but  I 
beg  to  assure  you  and  them  of  my  tender  and  deep  sym- 
pathy. I  grieve  for  you  all,  and  I  grieve  that  I  have  lost  a 
friend  who,  when  I  was  a  stranger  in  Detroit,  took  me  to 
her  home  and  made  me  welcome  there.  I  have  ever  felt 
under  obligations  to  her  for  the  courtesy  and  kindness  with 
which  she  treated  me.  She  was  a  noble  woman,  and  I  am 
better  for  having  known  her.  Bnt  vain  will  seem  to  you 
any  words  tlmt  I  can  write.  Please  remember  me  kindly 
to  your  children,  and   accept  for  yourself  the  respect  and 

esteem  of 

CYRUS  WOODMAN. 


FROM  A  PERSONAL  FRIEND,  AND  LONG  AN  ASSOCIATE 
IN  CHARITABLE  WORK. 

Paris,  June  9,  1888. 

Dear  Dr.  Stewart — The  sad  news  has  just  reached  me 
that  my  dear  Mrs.  Stewart  has  been  called  to  her  heavenly 
home.  Oh  !  how  can  we  live  without  her?  What  a  strange 
Providence  to  take  away  one  who  to  us  seems  so  neces- 
sary. In  all  our  meetings  your  dear  wife  was  the  one  upon 
whom  we  all  leaned,  and  it  seems  as  though  this  was  a  sor- 
row that  touched  thousands  of  hearts.  Truly,  if  sympathy 
will  soothe,  you  and  your  family  will  be  comforted.     Her 


42  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

work  is  finished,  and  she  lias  gone  to  receive  the  reward  of 
"  well  done  good  and  faithful  servant,"  and  we  can  but  be 
trustful  enough  to  feel  that  all  is  ordered  for  some  wise 
purpose,  though  it  is  hard  from  a  human  standpoint  to 
accept  our  sorrow  submissively.  Please  extend  my  deepest 
sympathj^  to  all  of  your  household  in  this  great  bereave- 
ment, and  believe  me 

Sorrowfully  yours,  H.  H.  N. 


Salem,  Oregon,  June  5,  1888. 

My  Dkae  Doctor — We  have  just  received  a  paper  con- 
taining the  news  of  jour  great  loss.  It  came  to  us  as  a  ter- 
rible shock,  bringing  a  sense  of  sore  personal  bereavement. 
Outside  of  my  own  personal  circle  of  father,  sisters,  and 
children,  I  do  not  think  I  have  any  one  whom  I  love  as  I 
love  her,  or  who  seems  so  near  of  kin  as  she  has  always 
seemed.  She  has  lived  a  grand  and  useful  life — always  in 
the  forefront  of  every  good.  Christian  enterprise — strong 
and  uncompromising  in  character,  intrepid  and  forceful  in 
expression,  as  she  was  noble  and  commanding  in  personal 
presence.  The  very  sight  of  her  was,  to  me,  alwa^'s  inspir- 
ing, and  at  the  same  time  calming.  It  is  a  great  blow  to 
me.  How  often  have  I  looked  forward  to  meeting  her 
again,  and  talking  freely  with  her  over  many  things  in  which 
I  longed  to  have  her  sympathy  or  her  judgment.  I  can 
hardly  realize  that  that  is  gone  from  my  reach  now.  I  feel 
sore  with  the  loss.  And  you,  my  dear  Doctor,  what  a  loss 
to  you.  I  dare  not  let  myself  think  of  it.  You  know  how 
long  and  how  dearly  both  Will  and  I  have  loved  you  and 
yours.  You  know  how  acutely  we  can  enter  into  your  loss 
and  sympathize  with  you.  We  are  not  friends  of  yester- 
day, but   received   our   friendship  for   you  and  yours  as  a 


LETTERS    OF    CONDOLENCE.  43 

heritao;e  from  those  who  have  gone  before  us.  I  need  not 
say  one  word  of  Christian  consolation.  You  are  fitted 
to  be  a  teacher  in  that  yourself.  I  can  only  write  a  few 
broken  words — (for  this  has  fallen  upon  me  so  suddenly) — 
a  few  broken  words  of  my  intense,  loving  admiration  of 
her  noble  and  gifted  nature — (she  was  just  enough  my 
elder  to  inspire  me  with  enthusiasm) — and  to  tell  you  how 
both  AVill  and  I  sorrow  with  3'ou.  Detroit  will  hardly 
seem  like  Detroit  to  me  any  longer.  I  can  hardly  think  of 
it  without  her.  Will  joins  me  in  loving  messages  of  sym- 
pathy to  every  one  of  your  dear  family.  There  is  not  otic 
of  them  that  does  not  seem  to  be  of  our  own  closest  kith 
and  kin.  Good-bye,  my  dear  Doctor  and  friend.  God 
bless  and  keep  and  comfort  and  strengthen  you  until  you 
meet  again  her  who  has  so  long  walked  life's  paths  with 
you — a  true  and  noble  helpmeet.  The  lives  you  have  both 
lived  in  our  beautiful  city  of  Detroit  are  known  to  all — a 
blessing  to  the  city.  Truly,  many,  very  many,  rise  up  on 
all  sides  to  call  you  blessed. 

Your  loving  and  sympathizing  friend,  M.  S.  L. 

"Thine  own  friend  and  thy  father's  friend  forsake  not." 

Her  grandfather,  Robert  Stuart,  of  glorious  memory,  was  an  elder  in 
Dr.  Duffield's  Detroit  church,  and  his  fast  friend  through  life.  The 
friendship  extended  to  the  families,  and  has  passed  down  through  three 
generations  to  the  present  time. 


g^tracts  ivom  gamilij  gettevs. 


April  25th,  1872. 

My  own  Dear  Husband — I  seize  a  moment,  wliile  we 

waiit  for  a  freight  train,  in  which  to  tell  you  that  we  are 

almost  at  Omaha ;  have  had  neither  trouble  nor  detention, 

and  am  already  feeling  better  than  I  have  for  many  a  long 

(jay — hungry  for  my  breakfast  and  ready  for  my  dinner. 

The  dining  car  where  I  am  now  waiting  for  my  breakfast 

is  tidy  and  well  served.     The  cook  has  made  me  a  cup  of 

lovely  chocolate,  and  peace  and  comfort  reign.     Thus  far 

I  have  got  on  so  nicely  that  I  anticipate  no  trouble,  but 

will  be  taken  care  of  by  machinery^   as  Mrs.  Farnsworth 

knows.     Dearest  love  to  all  at  home,  and  a  special  kiss  for 

Eobert.     It  was  mighty  sensible  to  give  me  tliose  plioto- 

graplis. 

Ever,  my  dearest,  your  own 

BELLE. 


May  7th,  1872. 
I  wrote  you  yesterday,  but  as  my  plans  had  taken  no 
definite  shape  then,  I  think  you  will  not  object  to  receive, 
and  I  certainly  do  not  to  send,  more  definite  news  of  my 
trip.  '■'■  '^  *  I  laughed  at  your  anxiety  about  my  extra 
baggage.  That  I  had  it  I  have  no  sort  of  doubt,  but  I  did 
not  have  to  pay  a  penny.  Why,  I  cannot  tell,  except 
because  of  my  unfailing  habit  of  falling  on  my  feet.  *  * 
*  May  11th. — I  can  give  you  no  idea  of  those  wonderful 
and  mysterious  things,  the  Geysers.  I  did  so  wish  you  and 
DujEf  were  with  me.     Perhaps  when  I  see  you  face  to  face 


EXTRACTS   FROM    FAMILY   LETTERS.  45 

I  can  say  mncli  that  pen  refuses  to  write.  *  *  * 
Ma}'  17th. — I  liad  anticipated  a  rough  passage  by  sea,  and 
sure  enough  as  we  went  through  the  Golden  Gate  and 
struck  "  the  bar,"  it,  as  Mr.  "Wood  said,  "floored  people  as 
a  bar  almost  always  does."  The  morning  we  started,  I 
received  your  Sabbath  letter,  inclosing  Belle's  and  Mamie's, 
and  I  do  not  think  I  ever  enjoyed  anything  more  than  that 
amount  and  variety  of  home  news — to  hear  that  Robbin 
enjoj'ed  his  play  in  the  open  air,  to  know  that  Mamie 
"went  to  bed  at  S  o'clock  because  Aunt  Sarah  said  she 
must ; "  to  realize  that  "  Miss  Brunson  "  was  the  "head  of  the 
home  and  family  just  as  if  she  had  been  born  to  the  situa- 
tion ;  that  the  servants  were  doing  well  and  the  house 
running  smoothly,"  was  inexpressible  comfort.  So  when  we 
went  over  "  the  bar"  I  told  Mr.  Wood  I  was  feeling  very 
sleepy  (poor  fellow,  he  will  never  get  over  laughing  about 
it),  and  lie  conducted  me  to  my  state  room,  where  I  seized 
a  bowl  and  deposited  my  breakfast  outside  of  my  stomach 
without  further  preliminary  remark,  and  retired  to  my 
berth  for  thirty-six  hours.  I  was  not  very  sick,  and  "  took 
my  gruel  regulai-."  *  *  I  begin  to  feel  uneasy  about 
D.'s  studies.  It  will  give  me  great  pain  to  see  him 
abandon  the  full  education  we  had  desired  for  him.  Dear 
me,  our  children  are  reaching  that  point  where  they  need 
our  hest  judgment.  God  help  us  to  judge  wisely  for  their 
future.  '^  *  May  28tli  (Black's  Hotel).— The  Yosemite 
Falls  aj'e  thundering  in  my  very  face  just  opposite  the 
windows.  1  cannot  express  to  3'ou  my  sensations  on  view- 
ing this  extraordinary  and  overwhelming  scenery.  It's  all 
one  can  do  to  hold  one's  heart  still.  How  I  long  to  see 
you  and  tell  you  all  I  have  seen  and  heard  and  thought 
since  we  have  been  separated.  Dearest,  you  cannot  think 
how   all    this  beautiful    nature — all    these   hearty,    whole- 


46  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART. 

soiiled  people,  all  this  fresh,  new  world,  has  refreshed  mind 
and  soul  as  well  as  body.       *       *       *       June  4th. — I  was 

dreadfully  sorry  to  hear  such  an  account  of  Dr.  W . 

Whatever  he  may  have  been  as  a  man  in  times  past,  he  is 
now  a  patient,  hard-working,  clear-sighted,  well  read  and 
cultivated  practitioner,  weary  with  but  not  of  his  work. 
He  reminded  me  a  little  of  yourself.  I  offered  him  a  fee, 
of  course,  and  was  disappointed  when  he  declined  it,  and 
said  to  him  frankly,  "  I  should  feel  more  at  liberty  to  con- 
sult you.  Doctor,  if  I  had  the  same  privilege  of  compensa- 
tion." He  was  kind  and  polite  as  a  huri-ied  man  can  be. 
*  *  *  I  trust  I  shall  have  learned,  or  partially  learned, 
one  thing  by  this  journey,  i.  e.,  neither  to  look  forward  or 
backward.  "  In  all  my  Lord's  appointed  ways  my  journey 
I'll  jjursue."  I  have  stood  face  to  face  with  a  death  of 
horror,  and  the  trial  was  removed.  I  will  no  more  vex  my 
soul  with  the  future.  *  '^  "^  June  6th. — Kobody  else 
could  drift  through  the  world  always  with  some  ready 
hand  to  take  care  of  me — a  born  Micawber — and  yet  1 
shall  be  very  glad  to  get  back  to  my  rightful  protector. 
How  thankful  I  shall  be  to  have  you  at  the  "  Pointe,"  for 
that  is  a  very  divided  existence,  living  alone  as  we  do,  and 
sometimes  I  fear  I  grow  morbid.  But  will  not  the  eigh- 
teen miles  a  day  be  hard  upon  you  ?  Of  course  not  much 
harder  than  the  unsatisfactory  way  we  see  you  three  times 
a  week.  *  *  '"•  June  9th. — Your  letter  acknowledging 
the  receipt  of  the  photographs  reached  me  yesterday.  Of 
course,  ray  darling,  they  were  all  for  you,  if  you  fancied 
them.  I  thought  them  better  than  anything  I  ever  had 
taken.  Gen.  Wilcox  told  me  that  the  atmosphere  was  so 
perfect  in  San  Francisco  that  the  photographs  were  inevit- 
ably good,  and  advised  me  to  sit  for  one.  I  am  so  glad 
now  that  I  did  so.     *     *     *     June  17th  (St.  Louis).— I 


EXTRACTS   FRO.\r    FAMILY    LETTERS.  47 

hoped  to  get  ]iere  and  be  able  to  rest,  but  Mrs.  K ,  the 

housekeeper  of  the  liotel,  and  a  thorough  lady,  insisted  that 
I  should  have  a  physician.  I  had  a  fat,  simple  soul  at 
Kansas  City,  who  said  I  was  safe  to  come  on  here,. and  it's 
only  a  wonder  I  am  not  dead  ;  so  I  was  shy  of  a  doctor, 
but  Mrs.  K sent  for  Dr.  Bower,  who  presented  him- 
self promptly,  and  talked  like  a  Dutchman — asked  my 
troubles,  was  I  married,  etc.,  etc.,  and  when  I  said  yes,  my 
husband  is  Dr.  Morse  Stewart,  of  Detroit,  he  jumped  up, 
shook  hands  with  me,  expressed  his  admiration  for  you, 
"  He  is  an  elegant  man,"  etc.,  etc.,  promised  to  cure  me  in 
three  days,  show  me  the  elephant  of  St.  Louis,  and  send 
me  home  to  you  this  week.  He  said  if  T  had  been  a  horse 
I  would  probably  have  died  of  such  journeying  and  sick- 
ness, but  a  woman  is  a  different  thing.     Mrs.  K has 

sent  in  a  woman,  who  has  rubbed  me  with  alcohol.  Dr. 
Bower's  medicine  has  come,  and  I  have  taken  a  dose.  You 
might  come  on  here  after  me.  H  ever  a  Avoman  longed 
for  her  husband,  it  was  your  wife,  my  dearest.  I  can  write 
no  more,  I  am  so  tired.  Your  St.  Louis  letters  were  like 
the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land.     Thanks  for 

vour  faithfulness. 

Ever  your  own  poor  wife,  your  own 

BELLE. 


Williamsburg,  Pa.,  June  15,  1879. 
My  Deak  Husband — As  we  have  a  few  minutes  before 
dinner,  I  avail  myself  of  them  to  answer  your  letter  of  the 
13tli,  received  just  as  I  was  going  to  bed.  The  mail  comes 
in  at  9.30  p.  m.,  so  you  see  what  odd  hours  we  have 
for  everything.  I  am  just  home  from  church  (Presbyte- 
rian), where  there  were  gathered  about  two  hundred — 
respectable   in   appearance    and    conduct,   and    with    rather 


48  MES.    MORSE   STEWART. 

more  than  the  average  mental  endowment  of  a  vilhige  in  a 
mountainous  country — (this  is  a  high  valley).  The  pastor 
is  quite  an  aged  man,  whose  only  memory  of  me  was  when 
I  was  a  three-year  old  child  in  old  Carlisle.  I  have  not 
heard  "  real  old-fashioned  preaching  "  before  in  a  very  long 
time,  but  notwithstanding  all  that  is  said  against  it,  as  being 
dry  and  doctrinal,  I  was  glad  when  Mr.  White  took  the 
text,  "But  we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,"  etc., 
and  divided  his  subject  into  two  heads,  each  witli  three  divi- 
sions, and  followed  out  systematically  God's  plan  for  liis 
own  glory.  Every  assumption  he  made,  he  proved  from 
God's  word;  and  when  I  came  away  from  the  church,  I 
brousrht  something;  with  me.  I  was  not  stuffed  with  Sun- 
day  school  saw-dust,  but  fed  as  by  an  under  shepherd,  albeit 
he  is  past  seventy,  and  looks  as  if  he  might  break  up  any 
moment.  Not  that  he  is  thin  and  scrawny,  but  he  has  a 
tremendous  struggle  to  get  his  voice  when  he  once  loses  it. 
He  told  Mrs.  Koller  that  my  resemblance  to  my  mother 
was  something  most  extraordinary.  I  was  out  when  he 
called. 

The  blessed  quiet  of  this  place  sinks  deeper  and 
deeper  into  my  soul,  and  they  tell  me  I  look  better  than 
when  I  came.  It  does  not  weary  me.  I  do  not  care  what 
they  eat  or  drink  or  wear.  I  do  not  even  read  and  study, 
or  think  or  plan,  but  sit  in  the  shadow  or  the  sunshine,  and 
see  and  hear  the  water  of  the  spring  or  the  Juniata,  and 
feel  the  fresh  breeze  that  comes  down  from  the  hillsides 
(one  of  them  is  almost  like  Heidelberg),  and  think — well, 
of  mere  physical  existence.  Yet  I  do  not  dare  recom- 
mend any  one  else  to  come  here — people  view  things  so 
differently.  They  might  not  think  Mrs.  K.'s  tin  coffee  pot 
just  the  thing,  or  feel  happy  because  the  dessert  is  served 
while  the  meat  is  on  the  table.     But  as  I  could  eat  oft"  her 


EXTRACTS   FR03I   FAMILY   LETTERS.  49 

kitchen  floor  or  table,  and  as  1  never  tasted  better  bread  in 
my  life,  and  as  I  have  butter  and  buttermilk  that  appeal  to 
m_y  tenderest  sensibilities,  I  do  not  think  it  well  to  be  more 
nice  than  wise. 

Last  Friday  I  took  a  drive.  Oh,  how  beautiful  the 
scenery  is!  But  driving  seems  to  give  me  a  definite  know- 
ledge of  every  joint  in  the  spine  of  my  back,  and  I  will 
not  so  ac:ain  very  soon.  I  wonder  if  Robbie  is  out  at  the 
Fointe  ?  Trusting  you  are  all  well,  and  sending  love  to  the 
family  "individually  and  collectively,"  as  father  use  to  say, 

I  am  ever  your  affectionate  wife, 

BELLE  D.  S. 


To  Her  Son,  M.,  Jr.: 

"On  my  return  from ,  I  found  a  despatch  awaiting 

me  announcing  the  death  of  my  dear  nephew,  S.  W.  D. 
He  has  had  a  very  long  illness,  great  suffering,  the  agony 
ending  in  mortification,  which  set  in  on  Monday.  Oh !  I 
am  glad  the  struggle  is  over,  thankful  that  his  poor  tor- 
tured body  is  at  rest,  rejoicing  that  at  last  he  is  'with 
Christ,  which  is  far  better.'  One  of  the  glorious  hopes  of 
Heaven  is  that  the  inhabitants  nevermore  say  '  I  am  sick.' 
Your  father  has  not  felt  well  enough  to  leave  home,  and  I 
do  not  mean  to  leave  him  even  to  accept  your  invitation. 
But  we  wish  very  much  to  see  you." 
la  another  letter  she  writes  : 

"The  remains  of  your  cousin  S.  W.  D.  reached  here  and 
were  met  at  the  train  by .  We  went  at  once  to  Elm- 
wood,  and  laid  the  mortal  remains  of  a  brave,  good,  bril- 
liant and  learned  man  to  rest  until  the  resurrection." 

Tliice  days  later  she  writes  of  the  death  of  another  cousin: 

"I  would  have  closed   her  eyes  in  (l(;atli ;  but  ten   niiii- 


50  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART. 

ntes  later  I  performed  that  last  sad  office — which  ought 
to  have  been  done  earlier — then,  draping  abont  the  poor 
little  thing's  dead  face  an  exquisite  bit  of  lace,  I  laid  some 
lilies  of  the  valley  near  her  cheek,  and  she  looked  the  little 
gentlewoman  that  she  was — all  the  pain,  no,  not  all,  but 
very  much  of  the  pain  and  sorrow  and  anguish  of  her  life 
had  passed  from  her  face,  and  she  looked  young  and  sweet 
and  pretty." 

"  I  dread  the  summer.  It  seems  full  of  yawning  graves. 
To  think  that  in  less  than  four  months  I  have  laid  away  so 
many. 

"  I  fear  your  birthday  gift  will  come  too  late ;  but  remem- 
ber, my  dear  son,  my  heart  and  mind  and  soul,  with  all  its 
spiritual  powers,  will  be  fixed  upon  you  all  that  day.  May 
God  bless  you  and  keep  you,  drawing  you  ever  by  His  own 
Holy  Spirit,  nearer  and  nearer  the  great  loving  heart  of 
Christ  our  Lord. 

"  D.'s  entering  actively  into  politics  was  a  great  pain  and 
distress  to  us,  as  we  had  suffered  enough  from  its  contami- 
nating influences.  I  would  be  delighted  to  go  to  H.  to  see 
you,  for  my  heart  aches  and  breaks  for  the  sight  of  my 
son  ;  but  the  serious  condition  of  your  father's  strength 
prevents  it.  *  "  *  For  a  time  I  have  been  fearing  you 
were  ill,  perhaps  it  is  the  mother's  instinct  told  the  story. 
*  '^  *  Ever  since  your  cousin  S.  W.  D.'s  deatli  I  have 
felt  so  unsafe  and  unsettled.  In  the  general  order  of 
nature,  he  ought  to  have  outlived  me  long,  and  now  there 
is  no  sense  of  certainty  as  to  the  younger  ones.  *  *  * 
Your  father  has  brought  in  your  last  letter.  I  do  not  like 
the  idea  of  your  postponing  your  visit  home  so  long,  or 
until  after  Belie  may  visit  you,  and  I  hope  you  will  arrange 
to  come  at  once,  for  before  the  1st  of  September  many  will 
be  preparing  to  flee.     People   tell    me  I  am  looking  very 


EXTRACTS    FROX    FAMILY    LETTERS.  51 

well,  but  I  feel  awf  nlly  spent  all  the  time.  It  is  now  nearly 
two  years  since  I  have  seen  you,  my  own  son,  and  the 
mother's  heart  within  me  aches  and  breaks  to  gather  you 
with  your  brothers  and  sisters,  once  more  a  whole  family 
united.  -  *  *  I  was  glad  to  see  you  remembered  your 
father's  birthda}',  albeit  it  makes  me  sad  to  see  how  fast  he 
is  driftino-  into  old  ao-e.  I  think  von  will  find  the  traces  of 
time's  chisel  very  marked  when  you  next  meet  him.  But 
his  resolute,  indomitable  spirit  keeps  him  at  his  work,  and 
his  ripe  wisdom  causes  him  to  have  more  than  enough  to 
do.  If  vou  onlv  come  home  to  us  and  make  a  visit,  that 
will  comfort  your  father's  heart,  I  shall  praise  God  and 
rejoice.  As  for  myself,  I  have  a  heart  hunger  for  the  sight 
of  your  face  that  is  not  to  be  expressed.  When  H.  P.  told 
me  how  well  you  looked,  and  wliat  a  pleasant  call  he  had 
with  you,  he  little  knew  the  good  news  he  was  telling.  To 
think  tliat  I  will  have  you  all  about  me  at  the  "Pointe"  is 
almost  too  good  news  to  be  true.  *  *  ^-  J  send  you  a 
picture  of  the  dear  little  boy  on  whose  grave  is  written  the 
record,  'Morse  Stewart  Lothrop,  born  October  4,1886; 
died  January  25,  1887.'  Your  sister  has  had  a  sore  trial 
that  still  weighs  heavily  on  her,  and,  indeed,  will  for  all  her 
life.  ■'•■  "■  "  My  time  is  the  football  of  every  one's 
whims,  and  is  interrupted  to  such  a  degree  tiiat  many  a 
letter  grows  old  and  stale  before  it  is  ever  posted.  *  *  * 
"When  we  came  here  all  the  householders  in  the  square 
were  living,  all  old  friends ;  and  now  Gov.  McClelland  has 
passed  away,  leaving  your  father  the  only  surviving  one.  I 
think  he  was  the  youngest  of  them  all.  *  *  '^  Our 
prayers  are  continually  for  you,  and  that  a  covenant-keep- 
ing God  may  bring  you  to  Himself.  My  only  wish  for  my 
children  is  that  they  may  be  mete  for  the  heavenly  inherit- 
ance.    '''•        *       *     Your  letter  of  a  promised  visit  reached 


52  MKS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

US  while  D.  was  still  hanging  between  life  and  death,  and 
I  dared  not  look  ahead  as  far  as  Christmas — naj,  not  as  far 
as  the  morrow.  It  was  an  awful  sight  to  see  that  huge 
man,  the  very  embodiment  of  physical  strength  and  vigor, 
in  such  a  plight ;  for  days  he  was  speechless,  and  for 
days  his  effort  to  subdue  the  cough  was  a  long  manifesta- 
tion of  patient  courage,  which  in  the  end  saved  his  life.  I 
was  then  suffering  greatly  from  rheumatism,  and  used  salol, 
a  new  remedy,  and,  thank  God,  it  gave  me  strength  and 
relief  to  get  through  my  great  task,  *  *  '•''  Ma}'  God 
in  His  infinite  loving  kindness  show  you  the  right  path, 
and  your  own  free  will  lead  you  to  walk  therein. 

"  Do  you  dream,  my  son,  you  cannot  be  missed,  and  think 
it  is  a  light  trial  for  us  to  have  you  away  from  home  at  such 
a  season  ?  Do  you  suppose  that  thei'e  is  ever  a  day  or  an 
hour  that  you  are  not  in  our  hearts  and  thoughts  ?  I  have 
loved  my  son,  my  first-born,  truly  and  faitlifully  and  sadly, 
as  ever  a  mother  did  or  could.  I  cannot  bear  to  see  any 
one  in  your  place  at  table.  You  are  a  very  capable  man, 
well  educated,  quick  witted,  and  you  ought  to  be  honored. 
I  love  you,  and  think  of  you  day  and  night.  Oh  !  if  I 
could  only  see  you  accept  Jesus  as  your  Saviour,  I  would 
have  nothing  more  to  ask  for  you.  Life  and  fame  and 
earthly  treasure  are  such  poor  tilings  in  comparison  with 
that  blessed  hope  of  immortal  joy." 


To  I.  G.  B.  S.:  April  16,  1880. 

My  Dear  Child — After  the  Stewart  family  have  had  a 
tempest  in  a  teapot  that  has  blown  the  cover  off,  things 
subside  quicker  and  milder  and  more  moderately  than  with 
other  folk,  Friday,  Mary  was  quite  sick.  Sunday,  I  went 
to  church  to  hear  Dr.  McCosh.     On  Monday  my  arrange- 


EXTRACTS    FROM    FAMILY    LETTERS.  53 

ments  were  made  for  house-cleaning  and  dressmaking, 
Monday  morning  your  father,  not  liking  John  Burgess'  tone, 

dismissed   him  on   the  spot.     D 's  five  dogs  attacked 

Knapp,  the  cleaner,  tore  her  clothes  off  her  back,  fright- 
ened her  to  that  degree  and  made  her  so  mad  ',  besides 
that,  my  house  cleaning  was  against  wind  and  tide.  Just 
then  your  letter  came,  making  a  little  liome-sick  plaint 
(No.  2),  and  as  your  father  was  taking  an  airing  in  the  "  Yal- 
ley  of  Decision,"  he  wrote  you  to  come  home  at  once.  I 
was  too  mixed  up  to  interfere,  for  I  had  no  laundress,  an 
obstreperous  man  servant  and  rampant  cleaner,  and  ray  face 
was  puffed  and  swelled  till  I  was  almost  blind,  due  largely 
to  the  exposure  in  Ann  Arbor.     I  had  struck  with  Jepkins, 

the  carpet-layer ;  W.  I),  came  to  ask  a  room  while  F 's 

chamber   was   occupied  ;  M 's   throat  broke  out    with 

diphtheria ;  the  room  to  be  cleaned  was  emptied  into  the 
hall ;  and  anything  more  thoroughly  at  sixes  and  sevens  than 
were  this  family  does  not  often  occur.  I  had  a  verj'  quiet 
but  mighty  decided  understanding  with  D.  about  the  dogs, 
and  I  should  have  dog-litttoned  them  in  forty-eight  hours  if 
something  had  not  been  done.  *  *  *  To-day  yom-  let- 
ter of  answer  has  come — just  about  what  I  have  expected, 
and  the  response  to  it  the  usual  back-down  of  your  indul- 
gent parent.  *  *  *  To-day  things  begin  to  take  shape. 
John  Neff  is  have  pro  tem.  Your  room  is  cleaned.  I  have 
engaged  a  laundress.  The  dresses  are  finishing  off — in 
other  words,  "  the  old  woman  expects  to  get  home  before 

dark."     Love  to  all. 

MOTHER. 


February  12,  1884. 
Mv  Deak  Child — I  scarcely  know  where  this  letter  will 
find  you,  as  I  thought  you  might  feel  it  your  duty  to  go 


54  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

back  to  P .     Now,  my  advice  to  you  is  to  take  a  week 

or  two  at  Atlantic  City  before  yon   go  back.     After  your 
father  received  your  last  letter  lie  sat  right  down  and  wrote 
you  an  epistle  as  long  as  a  sermon,  saying  nothing  to  me 
till  his  letter  was  finished.     My  own  impulse,  and,  indeed, 
my  long  desire,  is  that  you  should  come  home,  but  your 
father  said  we  must  consider  "  what  is  for  the  best  in  the 
long  run,"   and   whether  you   will  be  better  at  home  or 
abroad  I  can  not  take  it  upon  myself  to  decide.     I  so  often 
think  that  your  father  and  you  understand  each  other  so 
much  better,  that  his  judgment  is  far  preferable  to  mine. 
Still   four   people  in  one  room    is   too    maddening   to    be 
thought  of.     Some  human  natures  are  blood  suckers,  i.  e., 
draw  on  your  vitality  till  your  nervous  strength  is  exhausted. 
The  myth  of  the  vampire  has  a  foundation  of  fact  in  ner- 
vous  disorders.      Now,    understand,    I    believe   you    have 
strength  of  character  enough  to  hold  in  abeyance  hysterics 
(which  are  a  safety  valve).     St.  Yitus'  dance  is  an  irrepres- 
sible  fandango   that   I  hope  you  may  never  have  to  add 
to  j^our  reper'toire.     Then  there  are  all  sorts  of  combina- 
tions of  nerves  and  muscles  that  are  in  the  main  unpleasant. 
So,  on  general  principles,  I  would  say  take  a  room  by  your- 
self, siiy  your  prayers,  and  mean  them,  comfort  and  calm 
your  heart  with  the  words  of  God,  rest  in  your  Saviour's 
love,  and  walk  as  you  may  be  led  and  guided  of  His  holy 
Spirit,  then,  let  what  will,  come.     Do  you  remember  how 
many  times  He  counseled  and  encouraged  quiet — the  quiet 
and  rest  of  nature  ?     In  the  23d  Psalm  David  literally  tells 
how  he  through  the  still  waters  and  green  pastures  restored 
his  soul,  and  after  that,  came  the  paths  of  righteousness. 
Go  somewhere  by  the  sea  for  a  week   or   fortnight — say 
fortnight  to  begin  with— and  just  drink  in   a   long,  deep 
draught  of  nature.     I  need  such  a  refreshing,  and  so  must 


EXTRACTS   FROI^I    FAMILY    LETTERS.  55 

yon,  for  you  arc  an  odd  mixture  of  Stewart  and  Betlmne. 
You  will  save  time  and  money,  bealtli  and  usefulness — I 
do  not  say  life,  for  you  are  of  strong  vital  fibre.         ''^^ 
*  ^  *  *  *  *        May  15,  1884.— 

Kow,  young  woman,  if  you  practice  on  me  this  summer, 
you  must  go  to  old  Stornay  at  Hazeltine's  and  select  one  or 
two  of  those  copies  or  photographs  of  Denner''s  old  women 
(he  had  several  here,  but  I  did  not  get  any),  and  just  study 
them,  till  you  get  the  theory  of  age  well  grounded.  Age 
means  goodness  or  badness,  love  or  hate,  rest  or  unrest, 
patience  or  impatience,  faith  or  doubt,  hope  or  despair.  It 
means  the  patience  of  a  blessed  hope  or  the  philosophy  of 
fatalism.  If  you  can  paint  the  inside  of  me  on  the  outside 
of  me,  well  and  good,  but  the  "  Sairy  Gamps  "  you  usually 
produce  are  a  libel  on  a  respectable  mother,  and  as  to  your 
poor  father,  such  roues  and  venerable  dudes  and  helpless 
inebriates  as  you  make  of  him,  are  too  much  altogether. 
*****  I  do  not  wonder  that  your 

concert  opened  the  flood-gates.  I  never  heard  an}'  great 
thing  of  Wagner's  but  the  "  Flying  Dutchman,"  which  was 
none  too  well  put  on  the  stage  or  accompanied,  and  yet  I 
did  not  sleep  for  two  nights  afterwards.  His  music  is,  as 
yon  once  said  of  Carl  Marr's  drawing,  "  tight,"  a  certain 
'perfection  that  is  too  perfect  for  this  out-of-joint  world. 

The  family  are  all  talking  about  the  failure,  and  the  state- 
ment that   all  F 's  money   and  her  father's  too  have 

been  swept  away.  Fine  relations  may  l)e  very  fine,  but 
when  the}'  ruin  one  altogether  it's  paying  too  dear  for  finery. 
Well,  in  my  half  century  of  life  I  have  seen  as  many  peo- 
ple come  down  like  sticks  as  I  have  seen  go  up  like  rockets. 
Those  that  stay  up  are  the  e.xccptions.  '•'  *  *  Your 
Uncle  D,  says  when  you  are  through  pi-aeticing  on  me  you 


56  MRS.    MOESE   STEWART. 

may  try  liirn.     If  you  do  as  well  as  you  do  for  your  father, 
you  will  make  a  water  tramp  of  D . 

Ever  your  loving 

MOTHER. 


To  M.  B.  8.:  January  15,  1884. 

Keep  your  manners  and  cultivate  your  mind  and  your 
heart.  Especially  try  to  attain  sincerity ;  that  alone  will 
give  true  dignity.  Truth  is  force.  I  used  to  think  that  a 
rush  was  the  most  prevailing  force,  but  I  have  changed  my 
mind.  A  steady  pressure  is  the  strongest  power,  after  all, 
and  the  truth  is  always  that,  *  *  *  March  26,  1884. 
— The  Thompson  Home  is  hurrying  on  to  completion,  and 
it  will  be  a  noble  monument.  Poor  dear  Mrs.  Thompson 
prayed — or  rather  gave  thanks  in  her  prayer — "  that,  one  to 
whose  heart  this  work  was  so  dear  was  seeing  the  desire  of 
her  eyes."  Was  it  not  sweet  in  her  to  be  glad  for  me.  My 
present  hope  is  for  a  mission  house  on  Franklin  street. 
Our  school  does  so  well  that  the  influence  of  the  teaching 
is  being  felt  all  through  the  neighborhood,  and  even 
recognized.  '^  *  April  8,  1884  ("Wedding  Anniversary) 
— Your  sweet  little  letter  came  to-day,  and  your  father  and 
I  read  it  with  a  pang  of  blessed  self-reproach,  for  we,  poor 
people,  had  been  unobservant  of  the  day.  Tlie  truth  is,  I 
was  really  sick  in  bed  with  a  hard  influenza.  It  struck  me 
like  a  blow.  All  last  week  I  had  been  hard  at  work 
cleaning  closets,  writing  an  im23ortant  report,  changing  my 
laundress,  attending  board  meetings  (two,  no,  three,  in  one 
day,  and  the  first  two  hours  long),  and  every  day  I  was  say- 
ing to  myself,  "  Mamie  has  not  had  her  letter  yet."  I 
hope  you  do  not  think  that,  because  your  father  and  I  neg- 
lected to  keep  our  wedding  day,  we  are  people  of  no 
sentiment — au  contraire,  it  was  more  honored  in  the  breach 


EXTRACTS   FKOM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  57 

than  iu  tlie  observance.  We  have  gone  through  life  not 
always  patient,  but  always  faithful.  The  other  day  I  read 
"Mr.  Isaacs,"  a  very  queer  novel  by  Marion  Crawford.  In 
that,  there  was  the  deepest,  truest  estimate  of  love  that 
I  almost  ever  saw.  Here  are  we,  with  faded  hair  and 
wrinkled  faces,  holding  hands  sometimes — not  because  of 
love  as  a  sentiment,  but  because  of  love  as  a  principle.  * 
*  *  December  12,  1884  (Birthday  Letter). — It  is  quite  a 
number  of  years  ago  that  you  made  your  small  mark  on  the 
family  register,  and  Duff  was  called  in  with  the  rest  to  see 
the  new  sister.  His  generous  impulses  were  all  alive,  also 
his  spendthrift  tendencies,  and  Belle  and  he  rushed  to  the 
market,  ere  you  could  have  been  said  to  have  taken  a 
breathing  spell,  and  having  broken  their  bank  to  accomplish 
it,  the  two  bought  you  a  dancing  bear  and  any  amount  of 
candy — on  which,  hiter  in  the  day,  they  surfeited  them- 
selves. There  have  been  birthdays  and  birthdays,  but  none 
more  distinguished  than  that  celebrated  by  the  dancing 
bfiar.  Considering  how  you  and  Duff  have  continued  3'our 
warfare,  he  certainly  did  his  best  to  watch  over  the  first 
month  of  your  life.  Every  morning  at  5  o'clock  his  little 
fat  feet  would  carry  him  straight  to  your  cradle,  to  make 
sure  you  were  there ;  and  a  certain  day  when  you  had  been 
taken  under  my  wing,  and  Duff  found  your  shell  empty, 
he  gave  one  look  of  misery  at  what  he  knew  was  the  real- 
ization of  his  worst  fears,  that  I  shall  never  forget.  Cer- 
tainly you  were  a  funny  baby,  and  a  brilliant  one,  but  not 
a  beauty.  Once  when  you  were  a  year  old  Dr.  Stebbins 
went  up  to  your  cradle,  and  viewing  your  exceptionally  long 
head,  remarked,  "  You  don't  expect  to  raise  that  baby  '(  " 
She  was,  however,  just  the  one  I  did  expect  to  raise.  * 

****-**  January  29,  1885.— 
My  next  move  is  to  address  an  open  letter  to  the  Boai-d  of 


58  MRS.    MOESE   STEWART. 

Education,    asking   tliat   sewing   be   taught   in  the  public 
schools,  but  I  need  to  gather  my  wits  together  before  1 
write  it.     *     *     *     February  14,  1885.— I  think  it  will  be 
only  when  personal  responsibility  presses  upon  her  that  she 
will  awake  to  see  deeper  and  think  deeper  of  the  every-day 
things  of  life ;  and  it  is  after  all  the  every-day  things  that 
tell  in  a  life.      To  be  sure,  they  are  stupid  and  trifling  and 
belittling  to  your  mind,  but  they  are  duty,  and  mean  self- 
sacrifice    for  3'ou  and  comfort  for   those   you    love.     The 
older  I  grow  the  less  I  think  of  doing  some  great  thing. 
If  you  notice,  the  Gospels  all  tell  the  story  of  our  Lord's 
helpfulness  to  those  who  needed  Hitn  by  the  words,  "While 
he  was  in  the  way."      *      *      *      Feb.  24,  1885.— Oh,  my 
child,  take  my  word  for  it,  the  book  of  God  is  the  open 
door  to  a  new  and  progressive  life  that  is  so  far  beyond 
simple  mental  development  that  I  look  with  a  sad    pity 
upon  those  whose  minds  have  been  stultified  by  an  unre- 
generate  heart.     I  have  been  reading  George  Eliot's  Life. 
How  this  shows  the  hollow  emptiness  of  mere  intellect ! 
At  one  time  she  had  an  intense  religious  fervor ;  but  fervor 
and  feelino;  and   sentiment  are  not  enough — unless  these 
are  built  upon  the  strong  and  sure  foundation  of  the  Word 
of  God  as  a  lamp  to  our  path.     And  what  is  the  word  of 
God  %    It  is  the  principle  of  faith  as  the  fundamental  main- 
spring of  every  action  of  our  lives,  given  us  in  such  words 
as  the  Holy  Spirit  can  alone  interpret.     How  wonderfully 
clear  Dr.  Pentecost  made  this  to  me  !     I  sometimes  look 
back  over  all  the  crookedness  and  crossness  of  a  day  that  I 
have  lived  in  my  own  strength,  and  am  filled  -with  shame. 
*      *      *      March  19,  1885.— Lent  has  set  in,  and  the  ser- 
vices go  on  very  frequently.     One  thing  I  like  greatly  in 
the  Episcopal  church — it  recognizes  the  types   of  Christ 
and  the  doctrines,  and  Miss  Smiley  teaches  them  with  great 


EXTRACTS   FROM    FAMILY   LETTERS.  59 

fidelity.  I  never  before  wished  that  I  had  my  life  to  live 
over  again,  but  I  do  now,  for  if  I  had  filled  it  full  of  the 
joy  of  the  knowledge  of  tlie  Word  of  God,  I  would  liave 
had  no  reason  to  say  with  the  preacher,  "All  is  vanity  and 
vexation  of  spirit."  Oh,  my  child,  study  your  Bible,  that 
you  may  be  able  to  see  God's  great  plan  of  love  to  us.  It 
seems  to  me  the  only  worthy  study  of  life.  *  *  * 
May  22,  1888. — I  felt  as  if  I  had  deserted  you,  dear,  yester- 
day, but  I  wanted  to  do  what  was  best.  As  my  father 
used  to  say,  "  Deo  volente^''  we  will  do  some  more  work — 
and,  God  willing,  it  will  be  better  done  than  before.  May 
He  W'ho  never  slumbers  nor  sleeps  have  you  ever,  poor 
lonely  child,  in  His  tenderest  keeping.     Claim  your  rights 

to  all  he  promised  you. 

Always  your  loving 

MOTHER. 


To  R.  8.  S.:  November  1,  1886. 

,  My  Own  Dear  Son — Monday  morning  seems  to  come 
around  oftener  than  once  a  week,  but  it  is  always  a  day  for 
beginning  a  letter  to  you.  "We  were  greatly  pleased  with 
your  last  epistle,  and  like  your  idea  of  making  a  memoran- 
dum of  what  you  wish  to  tell  or  say.  To  write  a  good 
letter  is  an  art  that,  like  all  arts,  improves  under  cultiva- 
tion. There  are  various  kinds  of  letters — in  some  you 
exchange  family  news  ;  in  others,  gossip  ;  iu  others,  a  detail 
of  your  everyday  life,  what  you  do ;  in  others,  what  you 
think.  Perljaps  these  and  letters  of  feeling  are  the  highest 
type  of  writing.,  One  grows  away  from  what  one  says  or 
feels  or  thinks,  but  a  boy's  ("  man's  ! ")  everyday  doings  are 
very  dear  to  his  mother's  heart.  We  were  so  pleased  with 
your  description  of  the  fall  coloring  of  the  trees  that  you 
saw  on  that  long  walk.     Nature  lias  always  a  new  page  for 


60  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

one  who  loves  her.  She  enters  into  my  own  soul  and 
speaks  to  it  with  the  voice  of  God.  The  world  of  nature, 
the  fields,  the  sky,  the  water,  the  hills,  the  moujitains,  rest 
ine  as  the  green  pastures  and  still  waters  did  the  Psalmist, 
the  Lord,  through  them,  restoring  my  soul,  and  then  comes 
the  paths  of  righteousness.  *  '^"  *  *  * 

I  hope  P.  will  send  me  his  Exonian.  Put  ray  name  or 
yours  down  as  a  subscriber.  It  is  in  P.'s  blood  to  edit  a 
paper — indeed,  I  have  always  thought  he  would  take  to 
journalism  ;  but  I  would  warn  him  against  beginning  too 
early.  Let  him  get  his  good  scholarly  foundations  under 
him,  for  they  are  what  he  is  to  build  his  life  on.  Of  course, 
I  mean  his  mental  life.  His  moral  and  spiritual  life  must 
be  laid  stone  by  stone,  with  those  sure  principles  that  are 
founded  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  so  be  a  fit  temple  for 
the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  forever  cries  in  our 
hearts  to  draw  us  nigh  unto  God  our  Father  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  elder  brother.  *  *  *  "=^  '■'  Harry 
gave  a  very  pleasant  account  of  your  brilliant  color  and 
liearty  appearance,  and  your  "exceedingly  pleasant  rooms." 
I  pray  God,  my  own  dear  bo}^,  that  I  have  done  the  right 
thing  for  you  in  sending  you  awa3\  I  am  lonely  enough 
without  you.  If  you  but  live  near  the  dear  loving  heart  of 
our  Saviour  and  Redeemer,  and  plead  with  Him  His  exceed- 
ing rich  and  precious  promises,  He  will  hold  you  in  the  hol- 
low of  His  hand  and  guard  you  as  the  apple  of  His  eye.  No 
harm  will  come  nigh  you.  The  evil  which  is  in  the  world 
cannot  separate  you  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Oh,  if  you  might  be  granted  to  tell  in  your 
generation  the  old,  old  story,  I  would  unceasingly  thank 
God.  "  *  *  ''^  *  I  need  not  tell  you  how 
hard  it  was  for  me  to  part  with  you,  my  youngest  and  my 
dearest  child  ;  but  the  more  I  thought  of  your  life  and  its 


EXTRACTS   FROM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  (jl 

necessary  development,  tlie  more  I  became  convinced  that 
it  was  the  right  thing  to  do.  I  knew  you  would  go  where 
you  would  see  sin,  and  it  may  be  crime,  for  young  men  too 
often  sow  the  wind  and,  alas !  how  many  reap  the  whirl- 
wind ?  But  I  know  you  have  chosen  the  good  part ;  and 
that  prayer  which  our  Lord  prayed  for  "  His  own  "  is  mine 
also  for  my  own.  "  I  ask  not  that  they  be  taken  out  of  the 
world,  but  that  they  be  kept  from  the  evil  that  is  in  the 
world."  There  is  every  kind  of  sin,  but  if  you  ask  Him 
who  has  chosen  you  for  His  friend  to  aid  you  and  keep  you, 
He  will  send  His  own  Hoi)-  Spirit  to  warn  you  of  a  subtle 
sly  evil.  And,  oh  !  heed  the  slightest  whisper  of  that  still 
small  voice,  and  turn  away  quickly  ;  do  not  stop  one  second. 
Gross  things,  such  as  drink  and  debauchery  of  everj'^  kind, 
will  and  must  offend  you.  You  cannot  regard  them  with 
anything  but  disgust.  Set  your  face  like  a  flint  against 
them  for  yourself  and  for  others  ;  for  "  he  who  knoweth  to 
do  good  and  doetli  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin."  Those  poor 
wretches  who  inherit  depraved  appetites,  and  have  had  no 
other  teachings  tiian  a  bad  example,  have  some  excuse,  l)ut 
any  excuse  is  a  poor  thing  at  l)est.  Oh,  day  and  niglit  I 
commend  you  to  Him  who  is  able  to  keep  you  from  fall- 
ing. Study  the  word  of  God  ;  make  it  the  man  of  your 
counsels  ;  attend  church  and  prayer  meetings;  join  a  Bible 
class,  and  '■^ jpray  without  ceasing."  On  Friday  you  will  be 
seventeen  years  old,  and  from  this  on  you  will  come  rapidly 
to  man's  estate.  You  must  take  care  of  yourself.  You 
must  be  responsible  for  yourself  to  God  and  man.  Your 
mother  and  father  can  no  longer  shield  you.  "  *  * 
*  '"■  ■"  ■""  I  wonder  if  I  have  made  the  best 
choice  for  you  in  your  school.  Charles  says  that  Bhilips 
Exeter  is  a  great  place  for  rich  meat's  sons.  I  have  lived 
so  lono-  in  the  world  and  seen  the  evil  influence  of  wealth 


62  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

upon  both    old  and    young,   that  I   would  not  choose  the 
"  rich  "  as  the  best  associates  for  my  children.     They  are 
too    often    "bumptious"    or  ungovernable,   defiant  of  the 
very  restraints  that  are  for  their  best  good,  and  unsatisfac- 
tory generally.     I  trust  that  in   your  experience  you  will 
not  meet  many  such  among  your  classmates.     Under  all 
circumstances  remember  that  "  worth  makes  the  man,  the 
want  of  it  the  fellow ; "    and  remember  also,  that  in  the 
providence  of  God  your  forefathers  have  always  been  of 
God's  nobilit}^,  the  excellent  of  the  earth,  enjoying  a  cer- 
tain station  in  life  as  people  of  education  and  refinement. 
Not  many  of  them  have  been  very  rich,  but  all  have  had 
enough,  and  to  spare.     I  do  not  think  money  should  be  the 
first  or  greatest  pursuit.     If  we  seek  the  best  things  spirit- 
ual, God  adds  all  these  things,  food,  raiment,  shelter,  unto 
them.       *      *      *      May  6,  1887. — About  your  suggestion 
of  a  bicycle  or  a  canoe — dear  me !  choose  the  one  you  will 
die  by  easiest.      *      *      *      May  11. — I  shared  your  letter 
with  the  family.     Every  one  expressed    approbation  of  a 
bicycle.     Duff  inquired  of  Charles  why  he  did  not  get  one, 
and  thought  a  physician  "  like  me "   should  have  one  for 
night  work.     As  he  weighs  over  two  hundred  pounds,  I  do 
not  think  he  had  better  indulge  in  anything  but  a  tricycle. 
Fancy  him  "riding  afoot,"  as  the  Irishman  said.     Aj)ropos 
of   bicycles,  your   father   and    I    have  been    noticing    the 
bicycle  accidents.     E.  P.   nearly  killed   himself  by   riding 
down  Fort  Hill  at  Mackinac,  on  a  bicycle,  etc.     Mary  says 
if  she  had  a  brother  "  loon  "  enough  to  undertake  such  an 
enterprise  he  had  better  finish  his  career  early.     ''''       *       * 
June  20,  1887. — And  now,  my  dear  boy,  I  commend  you 
to  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  (who  is  the  God  of 
Providence),  and  pray  that  you  may  be  led  of  the  Spirit 
and  kept  from  all  evil  ;  that  all  your  scholarship  may  be 


EXTRACTS    FKOM    FAMILY    LETTERS.  68 

used  for  His  honor  and  glory ;  that  He  who  is  the  all  in 

all  may  so  fill  your  heart  with  courage  and  rest  and  peace 

in  Him  that  you  will  know  all  the  joys  and  blessings  of  a 

son  of  God.     I  often  think   of   the   hour  when  we  rowed 

over  that  stormy  water  two  3'ears  ago.     We  were  certainlj^ 

verv  near  death    and    in    imminent   dansrer,  but  wdiile  we 

feared  and  expected  a  watery  grave,  M'e  had  no  fears  beyond 

that  we  might  have  gone  to  Heaven  by  water,     ITow,  I 

expect  the  same  courage  and  dependence  on  your  part  that 

there  was  then. 

Ever  your  loving  mother, 

ISABELLA  G.  D.  STEWART. 


The  following  letter  to  her  brother,  "gone  to  the  war,"  from  its 
graphic  description  of  home  scenes  and  the  quiet  playfulness  and  humor 
which  pervades  the  whole,  is  so  characteristic  that  no  apology  is  needed 
for  reproducing  it  here.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  preface  that  its  publica- 
tion in  the  Messenger  occurred  many  years  after  it  was  written. 

Dear  Messenger — During  a  recent  visit  to  Grosse 
Pointe  we  chanced  to  discover  an  old  letter,  describing  the 
early  experiences  of  a  pioneer  among  the  residents  of  that 
now  popular  summer  resort.  Thinking  that  the  account  of 
a  state  of  things  so  different  from  the  present  may  interest 
our  readers,  we  have  obtained  permission  to  publish  it. 


-:i-  * 


"  Rest  Cottage,"  Gkosse  Pointe,  ) 
.luly  18.  1863.  ) 

*  *  ■"  \i  I  had  not  promised  to  tell  you  wlien  and 
liow  we  came  to  the  Pointe,  I  fear  this  letter  would  remain 
unwritten,  for  if  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction,  so  are  facts 
than  fancy.  Look  up  to  the  pleasant  name  mother  gave 
my  humble  little  house,  that  is  as  "  snug  as  a  bug  in  a  rug." 
"Snug"  sounds  very  pretty,  l)ut  for  a  person  of  my  feet 


64  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

and  inches  it  is  not  always  so  handy.  At  all  events,  I  am 
extremely  comfortable,  now  that  I  am  here  ;  but  the  get- 
ting here — that  was  the  rub  ! 

My  lord  and  master  has  no  "  natural  faculty  "  for  any- 
thing below  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  yet  I  cannot 
help  going  to  him  with  my  small  worries.  I  may  be  dis- 
appointed seventy  times  seven,  and  yet,  in  spite  of  every 
experience,  I  will  insist  upon  leaning  upon  him,  though 
half  the  time  he  is  a  broken  reed  and  the  other  half  a  sharp 
stick  in  the  way  of  assistance,  and  after  each  failure  on  his 
part  I  find  myself  making  every  possible  excuse  for  him 
and  endless  reflections  upon  myself  for  my  own  absurdity. 
As  usual,  I  talked  over  with  this  chief  counselor  my  plans 
for  moving  upon  the  following  Monday  and  Tuesday — 
explained  how  I  would  have  my  washing  done  in  town  on 
Monday,  because  "  at  the  Pointe  there  was  no  water  in  the 
cistern,"  but  would  like  a  couple  of  men  and  a  team  to  take 
out  bedsteads,  bureaus,  trunks  and  the  first  thousand  and  one 
accessories  to  a  family,  and  settle  them  in  the  house,  while 
la  vieille  Madame  and  the  children  would  come  out  on 
Tuesday  by  a  hach,  on  which  day  the  team  and  men 
could  bring  out  all  the  thousand  and  two  matters  remain- 
ing— such  as  cooking  stoves,  tubs,  pails,  etc.  Of  course 
tliere  is  everything  to  remember,  and  everytldng  means  to 
a  housekeeper  a  great  deal  more  than  you  dream  of  in  your 
philosophy. 

Saturday  at  tea  no  engagement  of  the  men  had  been 
made,  and  as  men  are  at  a  premium  this  year,  I  began  to 
grow  uneasy,  but  in  the  evening  my  helpmeet  saw  Mon- 
derie,  and  came  home  with  the  pleasant  assurance  that  all 
w^ould  be  right  for  the  move  on  Monday  morning;  so  I 
sought  to  fit  myself  by  a  Sabbath's  quiet  for  all  the  work 
that  was  to  be  crowded  into  the  coming  week.     It  was 


EXTRACTS   FROM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  <)5 

after  seven  o'clock  Mondaj'  morning  tliat  I  was  awakened 
from  a  most  sound   and  delightful  sleep  by  the  voice  of 

Kate,  the  housemaid,  saying,  "Mrs.   S !  Mrs.   S ! 

there  are  jive  men  and  two  teams,  and  thej^  want  to  know 
if  you  are  all  ready  to  load  up."  Load  up,  indeed  !  With 
what  ?  A  red-hot  cooking  stove  and  a  steaming  boiler  \  I 
rushed  to  the  Doctor  for  an  explanation,  but  he  looked 
vague  and  uncertain.  Then  I  called  a  council  of  war,  and 
Monderie  assured  me  that  he  had  informed  the  Doctor  that 
two  teams  were  hetter  than  one,  that  he  could  have  the  two 
this  day,  but  that  he  could  not  get  them  again  for  a  long 
time — that  as  the  Doctor  said  "  Very  well,"  he  supposed 
that  would  do.  Here  was  a  clincher,  and  the  Doctor  being 
thorough] V  cornered,  took  the  offensive  and  declared  that 
for  his  part  he  could  not  see  any  particular  difference 
between  two  men  and  one  team  two  days  and  five  men  and 
two  teams  one  day,  except  the  extra  man.  The  obvious- 
ness of  this  remark  was  almost  too  much  for  me,  though  I 
had  presence  of  mind  enough  to  reply  that  "  to  climb  out 
of  a  window  and  to  be  pitched  out  were  similar,  in  so  far 
that  one  got  out  of  the  window."  Whereupon  the  Doctor 
turned  helpless,  and  left  me  to  do  as  I  pleased  in  the  prem- 
ises, but  to  my  mind  there  was  no  alternative.  With  such 
an  army  of  men  to  be  had  or  lost — "  it  might  be  for  days 
and  it  might  be  forever," — there  was  nothing  for  me  but  to 
go  forward,  which  I  did  with  a  will,  and  by  three  o'clock  I 
was  at  the  Pointe  with  all  my  effects  hut  those  1  left  hehind 
me. 

The  children  and  Madame  came  up  in  a  hack.  I  sprang 
into  the  buggy,  and  drawing  a  tight  rein  over  old  Maje, 
reached  the  cottage  in  time  to  superintend  the  loads  I  had 
sent  three  hours  before.  While  driving  up  the  gravel  road 
it  flashed  across  my  mind,  "  If  those  carpenters  have  got 


Q6  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

through  their  work,  locked  up  the  house  and  gone  to  town, 
will  not  that  be  a  state  of  things  for  consideration  ? "  And 
true  enough,  the  cottage  and  its  down-south  kitchen  were 
both  locked  as  tight  as  locksmiths  could  do  it.  This  diffi- 
culty was  soon  surmounted  by  Fritz  effecting  an  entrance 
through  a  pane  of  glass,  and  I  had  ray  loads  of  miscellane- 
ous household  property  nearly  put  in  place,  when  I  saw  the 
Doctor  with  the  fiery  black  Jack  sweeping  up  the  road  like 
a  hurricane.  The  two  red  spots  in  the  horse's  nostrils 
glowed  like  living  coals,  and  he  looked  like  the  steed  of 
the  Prince  of  Darkness.  In  his  hand  the  Doctor  waved  the 
missing  keys,  and  seemed  rather  appalled  at  my  unconven- 
tional entrance  into  the  new  home.  Towards  night  I  dis- 
covered I  had  a  pin-cushion  and  no  pins ;  an  inkstand  and 
no  ink;  foolish  virgin-like,  a  lamp  and  no  oil;  and  last 
and  worst,  a  cooking  stove  and  no  cook.  About  three 
o'clock  Peter  Copper  arrived  with  all  the  children  and 
Madame,  hungry,  but  inexpressibly  happ}^  to  think  that  at 
last  they  were  going  to  sleep  at  Grosse  Pointe.  The  house 
was  organized  by  putting  up  stoves  and  bedsteads,  and  at 
nine  p.  m.  I  laid  my  over-burdened  head  upon  my  bolster, 
inasmuch  as  my  pillow  was  in  town. 

All  that  night  my  mind  was  hard  at  work,  and  I  got  so 
little  sleep  that  we  were  all  up  by  five  o'clock,  and  com- 
menced a  canvass  for  breakfast.     We  had  bread  and  cake, 

but  no  meat.     M was  dispatched  to  forage  the  country 

for  eggs,  and  eventually  returned  with  a  couple  of  dozen. 
The  meal  well  over,  a  general  course  of  straightening  up  took 
j)lace.  Kate,  the  housemaid,  was  decidedly  mulish  because 
the  cook  had  not  come  out  when  she  did,  but  preferred  (with- 
out consulting  the  mistress,  of  course)  to  accompany  Fritz, 
when  he  brought  out  the  missing  links  of  the  S house- 
hold.      Consequently    I    looked    anxiously    townward    for 


EXTRACTS   FROM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  67 

symptoms  of  the  queen  of  the  kitchen.  The  butcher  came 
and  brought  us  meat ;  the  Bours  sent  vegetables  and  fruit. 
I  hailed  a  load  of  wood  and  bought  it,  captured  a  man  and 
had  a  load  of  water  drawn,  and  then  watched  for  Fritz  and 
his  co-laborer.  Twelve  o'clock  came,  then  one,  and  no  sign 
of  extraneous  aid.  Three  hungry  children  must  be  fed ; 
we  filled  them  full,  and  watched  the  lake  shore  road  with 
an  interest  that  began  to  be  alarming.  Could  Maje,  that 
brave  old  beast,  have  broken  his  leg?  Mavbe  the  Doctor 
was  sick ;  some  calamity  miglit  have  overwhelmed  mother 
and  father.  By  five  o'clock  my  heart  was  in  my  mouth.  I 
would  go  to  town  if  I  went  afoot ;  when  just  at  the  gate  I 
saw  a  bustle  and  stir.  It  was  Fritz,  his  retrousse  Dutch 
nose  flaring  with  indignation.  He  was  on  foot,  his  right 
hand  holding  the  reins  of  that  prince  and  paragon  of  four- 
footed  animals,  Maje,  who  came  in  his  satin  coat,  as  if  to  a 
festival,  stepping  off  in  his  prompt,  decisive  way,  like  a 
steed  of  royal  blood,  and  dragging  after  him,  as  if  not 
aware  of  the  incumbrance,  a  big  lumber  wagon,  Fritz,  a 
perverse  and  pugnacious  cow,  six  barrels,  two  boxes,  and  a 
general  stock  of  indiscriminate  litter.  When  I  flew  to  the 
rescue  I  found  that  the  cook  had  been  too  <;enteel  to  ride 
out  in  such  a  vehicle  ;  that  tlie  cow  turned  rebellious,  and 
backed  and  balked  in  the  most  aggravating  manner.  The 
rest  of  the  story  must  be  told  in  Fritz's  own  English  (or 
Dutch),  as  he  stood  dirty,  tired,  indignant  and  short  of 
language,  still  holding  the  reins  of  the  horse  and  the  rope, 
and  gesticulating  as  only  an  angry  Dutchiiian  could.  I 
had  asked  him,  perhaps  forcibly,  what  had  kept  him  so 
long.     All  at  once  he  burst  out : 

"  I  nefer  see  such  mens  as  te  Doctor,  He  donno  nod- 
ings!  Ho  he  dinks  1  go  niit  a  cow  and  a  horse?  Efery 
mens  laughs  at  dot  Dutchinans  niit  a  horse  dot  pulls  to  dis 


68  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

vaj  and  a  cow  vot  runs  avay  !  I  valks  all  de  vay.  I  been 
coniin'  since  tens  o'clock.  I  slmst  so  tired  as  I  kain  be.  I 
nefer  see  such  tings  in  all  ni}^  life  !  I  holds  de  horse,  and 
I  pulls  de  cow.  Was  fur  he  dells  me  put  dot  shtrap  roundt 
de  cow  ?  Dree  dimes  she  preak  de  shtrap  and  runs  avay  ! 
How  I  pring  Mary  ?  She  can  no  sit  on  das,^''  and  with  a 
flourish  of  a  very  dirty  hand,  he  indicated  my  side-saddle, 
which  was  perched  on  top  of  a  barrel  in  the  fore  part  of 
the  wagon.  "I  been  comin' — I  mean,  tens  o'clock,  and 
now  I  must  been  gone  right  pack  again.  I  nefer  had  nod- 
ings  to  dinner — nodings  !  I  valks  all  de  vay  !  I  holds 
de  horse,  I  pulls  de  cow.  I  nefer  see  such  mens  as  te 
Doctor — he  don't  know  nodings  at  all!"  And  in  his 
righteous  indignation  he  flung  loose  the  reins  of  the  horse 
and  the  rope  of  the  cow ;  then  putting  his  dirty  hands  to 
his  still  dirtier  face,  he  wept  a  pint  of  very  dirty  tears,  and 
stamped  his  feet,  and  swore  high  Dutch  with  such  genuine 
tragedy  as  would  have  made  his  fortune  on  any  stage. 
Maje  availed  himself  of  his  freedom  to  dash  up  to  the 
house,  while  the  cow,  the  festive  cow,  pranced  through  the 
open  gate  at  a  2:40  pace  townward,  and  waved  lier  depart- 
ing tail  round  the  corner  of  the  neighboring  church.  At 
this  juncture  Dutch  oaths  proved  inadequate,  and  Fritz 
retired  down  the  road  with  frantic  speed,  where  he  eventu- 
ally recaptured  that  sweet  and  gentle  animal,  the  cow,  and 
returned  exhausted.  In  the  meantime  I  had  followed 
Maje  with  his  lumber  wagon  to  the  iiouse,  where,  flinging 
myself  on  the  steps  of  the  piazza,  I  laughed  till  I  cried. 

When  Fritz  came  back,  cow  in  hand,  to  where  I  was 
sitting,  I  asked  him,  "  What  are  in  all  your  covered  bar- 
rels ? " 

"  Das ! "  he  said ;  and  he  poured  out  a  score  or  more  of 
bantam  chickens.       '*  Das  !  "  and  out  he  jerked  from  the 


EXTRACTS   FROM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  69 

second  half  a  dozen  ungainly  Shanghai  hens.  "Das!" 
and  out  jumped  a  small  dog.  "  Das  !  "  and  he  lifted  down 
the  ice-cream  pail,  of  which  he  carefully  removed  the  cover, 
when  out  scrambled  three  cats  without  any  tails. 

"  Voild  le  menagerie  !  "  said  Madame.  I  fed  the  poor 
hungry  Dutchman,  the  result  of  which  generous  care  being 
that  we  had  no  beefsteak  for  breakfast,  and  sent  him  off  to 
town  at  once.  Suddenly  \x\y  attention  was  called  to  the 
fact  that  the  Shanghai  hens,  the  cats  and  the  dog  were 
regaling  themselves  out  of  the  only  pail  of  drinking  water 
there  was  in  the  house ;  that  a  Brahma-Pootra  chicken  had 
expired  ;  that  while  one  bantam  was  engaged  laying  an  eg^ 
in  the  water  butt,  the  remainder  had  gone  to  roost  on  the 
stovepipe  and  pot  handles ;  that  Kate,  the  housemaid,  was 
"  hopping  mad  "  because  the  cook  did  not  come,  and  that 
the  cow  had  broken  through  the  fence  and  run  away!  On 
great  occasions  I  come  out.  This  was  one,  and  I  sailed 
elegantly  through  it,  and  went  to  bed  to  spend  a  sleepless 
night  again.  The  fact  is,  every  time  I  began  to  drop  into 
a  doze,  the  recollection  of  that  unhappy  Fritz  came  over 
me,  and  I  laughed  myself  broad  awake. 

"Wednesday  at  noon  our  cook  came  up  with  the  horse, 
the  pony  and  et  ceteras  enough  to  help  us  along  consider- 
ably. In  the  afternoon  of  that  day  the  poor  Doctor  also 
appeared,  slightly  crestfallen  at  Fritz's  experience,  and  sug- 
gesting as  an  offset  to  Fritz's  having  taken  seven  hours, 
that  he  was  only  fifty  minutes  on  the  road.  I  could  not 
forbear  inquiring  why  he  sent  those  tailless  Manx  cats  up 
and  received  for  reply  :  "  If  you  had  been  forced  to  see 
those  poor  lonely  wretches  sit  on  the  fence  and  wash  their 
faces,  you  would  not  ask."  *     *     * 


70  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

Sabbath  Noon,  Oct.  31,  1886. 
To  the  Rev.   George  Duffield: 

My  Deae  Brother — We  have  just  read  your  last  letter 

to  Mary  D .     Did  I  not  knoto  that  the  Lord  is  good,  I 

would  be  speechless.  He  orders  aright.  If  it  is  life  here 
with  us,  the  world  will  be  better  and  sweeter  to  us  all,  for 
my  dear,  dear  boy's  presence  in  it ;  if  it  is  "length  of  days, 
even  forever  and  ever,"  it  will  be  heaven  for  him.  *  *  * 
Nov.  11,  1886. — I  care  so  little  for  the  routine  of  life  for 
myself,  but  am  the  veriest  Martha  for  my  family.  I  pray 
that  you  may  all  experience  the  power  of  Christ's  love  at 
this  supreme  hour,  and  that  His  strength  and  grace  may 
supply  all  your  needs,  being  able  to  say  from  the  depths, 
"  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  Him."  *  *  * 
Nov.  18,  1886. — I  am  truly  glad  our  dear  boy's  people  are 
praj'ing  lor  him,  and  wait  in  hope.  Of  a  surety  we  are 
come  to  a  place  where  our  faith  cannot  stand  in  the  wisdom 
of  men,  but,  blessed  be  His  name,  it  can  stand  fast  in  the 
power  of  God  ;  but  before  I  ask  Him  to  exert  His  special 
power,  the  pleading  is  that  His  will,  His  knowledge.  His 
loving  kindness  may  rule  for  us.  It  is  such  a  comfort  to 
know  that  his  brave  heart  is  willing  to  live  against  such 
physical  odds.  I  am  still  planning  to  go  to  you.  *  *  * 
May  God  in  His  mercy  and  loving  kindness  keep  you  all, 
the  angel  of  the  Covenant  watch  over  your  household  until 
the  morning  breaks.  *  *  *  Nov.  20,  1886. — I  have 
received  your  last  letter  to  Mary,  saying  that  S.  W.  D.  has 
had  a  change  for  the  better.  As  I  understand  his  case,  all 
reason  is  against  his  being  healed,  but  all  revelation  makes 
it  the  possible  of  God,  and  I  stand  crying  as  did  that  poor 
afflicted  father  whose  confession  has  rung  through  the 
ages,  "  Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief."  What- 
ever the  event  of  all  our  anxiety  may  be,  of  one  thing  I  am 


EXTRACTS   FROM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  71 

sure,  our  poor  boj's  trial  of  faith  and  patience  will  make  a 
profound  impression  for  <^ood  ;  nay,  more,  for  the  highest 
spiritual  good.     *     *     *      Feb.  12,  1887.— My  poor  sister 

H is  rapidly  passing  away,  and — .     Oh,  George,  I  liave 

not  much  courage  left.  Tliank  God,  to-day  I  have  been  able 
to  cry — to  realize  and  accept  it  all,  and  pour  out  the  tears 
of  submission.  "  Shall  not  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth  do 
right,"  and  is  He  not  my  Father,  and  ought  we  not  to  be 
— nay,  are  we  not  glad  to  know  they  are,  or  soon  will  be, 
beyond  the  power  of  sin  and  suffering,  and  knowing  the 
joy  of  rest  from  the  weary  strife  of  flesh  and  spirit,  in  that 
blessed  land  where  the  inhabitants  shall  no  more  say,  "  I 
am  sick."  Yesterday  was  my  birthday ;  to-day  I  feel  old, 
and  drag  my  burden,  tiring  not  of  spirit,  God  be  praised, 
but,  oh,  our  sorrow  is  from  sin,  and  I  am  weary  of  its 
power  in  the  world. 

Your  loving  sister 

BELLE. 


Letters  to  8.  W.  D.:  February  12,  1887. 

My  Own  Dear  Boy — It  makes  so  little  difference 
whether  this  world's  battle  goes  for  or  against  us,  if  in  the 
end  we  win  immortal  life.  Oh !  I  can't  saj'^  it.  At  all 
events  I  shall  think  of  you  and  your  joy  it'  you  leave  us, 
and  be  glad  the  dear  Lord  has  you  safe  and  close  and  com- 
forted in  his  sure  arms,  and  know  that  sin  nor  sorrow  nor 
struggle  nor  strain  can  ever  break  your  dear  grand  heart. 
Oh,  my  boy,  I  love  you  so.  I  have  whispered  to  myself, 
"  Do  not  fear,  always  hope,"  but  I  have  held  your  life  with 
a  light  hand,  that  is,  I  have  thought  so ;  but  now  I  want  to 
get  to  my  knees  and  pray  that  if  I  inust^  I  may  be  able  to 
let  you  go  and  wish  you  joy.  Ever  since  your  letter  and 
George's   that  gave  us  such  a  gleam  of  hope,  I   have  been 


72  MRS.    MOESE   STEWART, 

incapable  of  writing,  and  I  feared  I  might  say  some  wrong 
word.  Over  and  over,  that  line  of  your  sparrow  song  came 
into  my  mind,  "  Full  of  all  weary  weakness,"  and  has 
wrung  my  heart.  I  know  what  it  is  to  come  back  with 
every  nerve  bare  to  the  cold  and  heat  and  dampness  and 
the  dryness,  and  I  know,  too,  how  awfully  the  mind  is 
colored  and  discolored  by  the  hodj,  and  so  I  liave  prayed 
that  you  might  have  strength  for  your  day  and  hour ;  that 
you  might,  by  one  supreme  effort,  lay  all  before  the  Great 
Physician,  and  07i  Him  who  says  "  cast  thy  burden  ;  "  and 
have  almost  seen  your  quick,  imperious  spirit  Jling  the 
crushing  thing  off,  not  with  impatience,  but  the  joy  of  rescue 
and  relief,  the  joy  of  faith.  My  heart  aches  so,  and  ray 
eyes  are  so  blind  with  distress,  that — (See  Habakuk  2:1). 
******  March  2  and  3, 
1887. — I  cannot  tell  you  why  my  hand  has  been  holden  and 
I  have  not  written  to  you,  for  you  are  never  out  of  my 
thoughts  and  prayers.  I  am  at  this  moment  at  my  dear 
house.     Her  children  are  with   her  at  this  writing, 


but  within  an  hour  or  two  at  the  furthest  I  must  close  her 
eyes  in  death.  She  goes  home  to  her  Father's  house,  to  a 
mansion  prepared  for  her.  I  am  very  fond  of  her,  so  fond 
that  I  would  not  hold  her  back.  Her  children  are  deeply 
devoted  to  her.  Through  all  the  long  hours  of  the  night 
that  is  passed  I  have  had  you  always  before  me.  Every- 
thing I  did  for has  been  in  a  figure  for  you.      *         * 

Thursday  a.  m. — It  was  just  as  I  said  above.  Her  children 
stood  around  her,  while  I  prayed  that  she  might  find  that 
Jesus  could  make  a  dying  bed  feel  soft  as  downy  pillows 
are.  "  The  wrench  that  set  her  free  "  was  but  a  slumber- 
ing; over  into  a  better  home.  I  then  did  what  I  could  for 
the  dear  children  (they  are  all  men  and  women).  I  had 
started  the  day  with  sorrow  of  heart  for  you  all,  and  your 


EXTRACTS   FROM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  73 

father  and  yourself  and and  her  dear  ones  seemed  a 

great  many  for  the  arms  (poor,  feeble  things)  of  my  faith ; 
and  then  as  a  mercy,  nay,  as  a  blessing  from  Him  who  loves 
ns,  came  3'onr  dear  letter  and  Hattie's.  Your  uncle  is 
answering  it  at  this  moment.  Oh,  my  boy,  I  cannot  bear 
to  lose  you.  Oh,  I  pray  my  Heavenly  Father  that  He  will 
spare  me  a  little  that  I  may  recover  my  strength  ere  I 
go  hence.  I  do  not  understand  it  at  all ;  but,  as  dear  old 
Dr.  Cooper  said,  "  The  Lord  Jesus  makes  no  mistakes." 
He  knows — He  knows — and   round  onr  ignorance  is  His 

knowledge.     I  must  go  now  to .     My  eyes  are  blind 

with  tears,  my  heart  affrighted,  my  hands  trembling,  and  I 
must  seize  a  moment  to  stay  my  soul  by  looking  unto  Him 
who  is  the  author  Awd  finisher  (Oh,  God  be  praised  that  my 
Saviour  is  responsible  for  the  finishing  of  my  faith),  for 
it's  the  homestretch  that  tries  the  poor  beast  that  runs  to 
win.  Love  and  thanks  to  dear  Hattie.  God  ordered  her 
letter  to  reach  me  just  when  it  did.  ""  *  *  Monday, 
March  7 — 10  a.  m. — The  darkest  hour  is  always  nearest 
dawn.     To-dav  there  is  more  brio-htness  in  life  because  of 

ty  CD 

your  words.     Last  week  I  felt  as  if  I  were  to  bury  you  all. 

I  had  a  procession  as  long  as  a  dinner  list,  and  when  it  came 

to  a  crepe  bonnet  and  veil,  it  was  the  last  ounce.     I  loould 

not  put  on  the  latter.     If  I  did  not  wear  that  thing  I  could 

look  beyond  the  present,  but  with  that  dragging  my  head 

and   heart  back   into   the   bitterness   of  it  all — it  was   too 

much.       *         •5'-         *      J  am  so  glad  you  are  looking  into 

all  the  wonderful  powers  of  body  as  well  as  soul  that  we 

possess  in  Christ  Jesus.     I  am  intensely  conservative,  and 

distrust  upside  down  words,  but  I  want  every  right  I  can 

claim  in  Christ.     I  propose  to  go  in  and  possess  that  land, 

even  if  upside  down  people  do  jostle  me.     Do  you  notice 

how  strong  the  trend  of  mind  is  in  the  channel  of  mj'stic 
10 


T4  MES.    MOESE  STEWART. 

thought?  ]^ow,  I  am  no  mystic,  and  am  afraid  of  too 
mncli  quietism,  even  although  I  would  he  tempted  to  have 
my  son  lapped  about  and  lulled  by  the  down  of  their 
dreamy  languor  ;  but  there  i&  too  much  to  do  in  speeding 
the  Gospel — it  is  all  significant  of  a  great  transition  time. 
Ever  your  loving  AUNT  BELLE. 


To  Mrs.  S.  W.  D.:  June  18,  1887. 

*  *  -s?-  *  *  ]_  often,  nay,  constantly,  think 
of  you  and  my  brother,  in  your  empty  house,  and  how  all 
real  living  must  seem  ended.  I  mean  the  living  of  feeling 
and  sentiment.  Of  course  this  is  not  right.  Life  is  not, 
and  should  not  be,  based  upon  feeling.  How  often  I  gird 
myself  with  those  words — strong,  imperious,  helpful  as 
none  other — ^^ Leaving  the  things  that  are  behind,  I  press 
forwardr  I  promised  you  that  when  tlie  grass  was  green 
above  him  we  so  dearly  love,  I  would  let  you  know.  Last 
night  I  drove  out  to  our  "  God's  acre,"  and  reached  the  spot 
just  as  heavy  rain  began  to  fall.  It  seemed  to  me  I  never 
saw  so  beautifully  made  a  grave — like  a  great  slab  of  turf 
from  which  every  springing  blade  spoke  to  Him  of  him. 
How  peaceful  and  restful  and  b,eautiful  all  was,  and  I 
thanked  God  there  M^as  such  a  home  here  for  us  all.  ""  * 
Always  the  loving  AUNT  BELLE. 


The  following  letter,  written  shortly  after  the  death  of  her  father  to  a 
lady  much  her  senior  in  age,  explains  itself.     The  date  is  not  given. 

My  Dear  Mes.  I  left  you  in   such  haste  to-night 

that  I  quite  forgot  to  bring  away  the  Unitarian  book  you 
offered  me.  I  confess  I  would  be  glad  to  see  it,  and  am 
sorry  my  mind  cannot  look  into  it  to-night  while  our  con- 


EXTRACTS    FROM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  75 

versation  is  fresh.  I  send  jou  a  book  that  has  given  me 
great  pleasure,  and  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  enjoy  it  also, 
"  The  Soul,  Instinct  and  Life."  It  has  always  been  my 
pleasure  to  believe  that  each  human  soul,  each  immortal 
soul,  is  as  much  the  gift  of  God  as  was  the  first  soul  of 
mankind,  even  the  soul  of  Adam,  Nothing  could  have 
untied  the  knot  that  fastened  it  to  the  God-like  body  of  our 
first  Father  in  the  flesh  but  sin  ;  "  through  sin  came  death.'''' 
Dr.  Payne  does  not  venture  into  doctrines — they  are  not 
quite  his  province.  But  search  with  all  the  eyes  science 
has,  and  she  cannot  find  when  the  soul  comes,  how  it  goes. 
Therefore  the  revealed  Word  must  be  our  guide.  It 
comes,  following  all  the  laws  of  nature,  all  the  orderings  of 
Him  who  "  orders  all  thina-s  from  the  beginnins:  of  the 
world,"  but  it  comes  all  the  same  hy  the  will  of  God,  just 
as  it  goes  hy  the  will  of  God.  He  works  for  every  immor- 
tal being,  the  same  great  miracle  he  wrought  for  Adam. 
Our  soul  is  God's  special,  personal,  individual  gift  from 
Himself  to  each  one  of  us.  JSTo  materialism  could  change 
what  is  so  thoroughly  my  faith,  however  specious  it  might 
be.  Therefore,  please  send  me  the  book,  that  I  may  see 
for  myself,  the  confession  of  the  poverty  of  knowledge  of 
science  of  metaphysical  research,  loithout  the  aid  and  hope 
of  revelation. 

AVhat  unites  the  soul  to  the  body  ?  God's  will.  Specu- 
lation cannot  get  around  that.  Whence  does  it  come  ? 
None  but  God  kpows. 

Oh,  as  I  saw  how  with  a  death  grip  the  mechanism  of 
his  frail  body  held  that  immortal  soul  that  took  its  flight 
ere  the  glory  of  the  summer  had  come  in,  I  realized,  as 
never  before,  the  utter  poverty  of  philosophy — the  blessed 
hope  of  a  glorious  immortality.  When  that  fatal  wrench 
came,   that  grand,  brave  head  dropped   i'oiward,  my  heart 


76  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

gave  one  great  pang  of  joy  ;  and  amid  the  horror,  the  deso- 
lation, the  wreck  of  my  life,  it  cried  out,  "  I  give  you  joy, 
my  darling!"  What  was  my  father's  body?  An  ill- 
ordered  thing  at  best ;  but  his  soul  was  past  compare.  It 
had  been  washed  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  It 
shone  through  all  the  cumbering  flesh  with  a  lambent  flame 
that  showed  the  body  was  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
JSTo  one  could  have  called  him  possessed  of  any  claim  to 
beauty,  no  matter  how  slight,  yet  when  we  wrapped  him  in 
his  winding  sheet  and  laid  him  in  his  shroud,  that  poor, 
misshapen  figure,  that  plain,  plain  face,  took  on  it  the  glory 
of  some  grand  old  saint.  What  was  it?  Why  was  it?  It 
was  the  impress  that  a  purified  soul  had  left  upon  that 
natural  body,  which  I  shall  see  no  more  either  here  or  here- 
after, for  it  will  be  raised  a  more  glorious  body ;  and  the 
soul  (that  was  my  father  to  me)  will  have  been  one  with 
Christ,  ere  He  claims  it  as  His  own. 

Oh,  if  I  win  Heaven  at  last,  ere  I  see  the  King  in  His 
glory,   I  will    hear  my  father   say,  "  My    child,    my  poor 

child ! " 

B.  D.  S. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  PRIVATE  LETTER  ON  THE  LOSS  OF 
THE  PROHIBITORY  AMENDMENT. 

*  *  I  feel  deeply  the  loss  of  the  prohibitory  amend- 
ment. It  is  not  a  question  to  be  reasoned  upon,  it  is  a 
principle  of  dire  necessity.  W^  have  fallen  on  times  of 
dire  necessity,  upon  times  when  men  tell  us  they  cannot 
resist  their  appetites.  If  they  tell  us  the  truth,  then  such 
poor  weak  things  need  protection ;  if  they  tell  a  falsehood, 
and  can  not  resist  their  appetites  because'they  will  not,  then 
decent  people  must  protect  themselves  the  best  they  can. 
It  is  all  very  well  to  say  let  men  destroy  themselves  if  they 


EXTRACTS    FROM   FAMILY   LETTERS.  77 

want  to  do  so.  But  a  boy  is  not  a  man.  A  lunatic  is  a 
madman.  A  child  born  with  the  brand  of  a  drunken 
father  upon  liim,  is  the  charge  of  the  State  or  county  after 
he  has  worn  a  good  mother's  life  away.  Oh,  I  cannot  bear 
to  talk  about  it.     Liquor  drives  me  to  a  frenzy.     I  went  to 

see  poor  Mrs. the  other  day.     Her  son   cannot  live 

long.  He  is  out  of  his  head — in  addition  to  his  other 
troubles — which  is  sad  for  a  mother  to  bear.  I  have 
watched  poor  mothers  w'ith  their  trials  and  cares,  and  I  have 
groaned  at  the  thought  of  the  deadly  inheritances  poor 
fathers  have  left  to  their  children — an  insatiable  appetite 
for  strong  drink  and  an  unsettled  brain. 


miscellaitcoixs  "SElritiixjgts, 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  TO  THE  13th  ANNUAL  MEETING 
OP  THE  WOMEN'S  BOARD  OF  MISSIONS  OF  THE 
NORTHWEST   PRESBYTERIANS. 

Ladies — Nay  more — let  me  say  Friends  and  Co-workers 
in  the  canse  represented  here  to-day :  It  is  not  only  a  duty 
imposed  upon  me,  but  a  great  pleasure,  to  welcome  you  to 
dear  old  Detroit — to  offer  you  the  best  our  hearts  and  hands 
can  give,  presenting  you  the  freedom  of  our  city,  w^elcom- 
ing  you  to  hearth  and  home  and  tabernacle  of  God,  beauti- 
fied for  your  coming  b}^  the  loving  hands  of  those  who 
worship  at  its  altar. 

On  this,  the  twelfth  anniversary  of  our  women's  work, 
we  are  glad  to  say,  come  and  be  one  with  us — come  and 
abide  with  us — let  our  homes  be  your  homes  during  the 
brief  space  allotted  for  the  consideration  of  the  great  prob- 
lem before  us,  because  one  hope  and  purpose  is  in  us  all. 

Need  I  define  it  ?  The  world's  statistics  are  large — alas, 
yet  more  are  they  heavy  and  disheartening.  Let  us  eschew 
them  numerically,  and  take  on  trust  the  little  segment  of 
the  world  that  the  charts  mark  with  the  white  emblem  of 
Christian  purity.  It  is  so  small  a  portion  that  it  illustrates 
even  after  all  effort,  that  t\\Q  field  is  the  world. 

The  vastness  of  the  field,  and  the  magnitude  of  the  labor 
would  be  appalling,  had  we  not  the  prototype  in  the  vision 
of  the  prophet  Daniel. 


MISCELLANEOUS    WRITINGS.  79 

"  I  saw  and  behold  a  tree  in  the  midst  of  the  earth,  and 
the  lieight  thereof  was  great — the  tree  grew  and  was  strong, 
and  tlie  height  tliereof  reached  unto  Heaven,  and  the  sight 
thereof  to  the  end  of  all  the  eartli ;  the  leaves  tliereof  were 
fair,  and  the  fruit  thereof  much,  and  in  it  was  meat  for 
all.  The  beasts  of  the  field  had  shadow  under  it,  and  the 
fowls  of  the  heavens  dwelt  in  the  boughs  thereof,  and  all 
flesh  was  fed  of  it !  " 

Our  Lord  himself  gave  the  interpretation,  when  he  said  : 
"The  kingdom  of  Heaven  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed  which  a  man  took  and  sowed  in  his  field — which, 
indeed,  is  the  least  of  all  seeds — but  when  it  is  grown,  it  is 
the  greatest  among  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree  so  that  tlie 
birds  of  the  air  come  and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof." 

God  planted  His  mustard  seed  in  human  nature — in 
Jesus  Ciirist — the  Holj  Spirit  is  ever  planting  and  nour- 
ishing Jesus  Christ  and  faith  in  His  redeeming  love  in  our 
hearts — and  we  need  only  to  give  it  room  to  grow  till  the 
believing  soul  becomes  a  tree. 

Has  not  he  who  of  all  sinful  men,  sounded  the  deepest 
depths  of  the  deep  tilings  of  God,  told  us  "  that  the  commu- 
nication of  thy  faith  may  become  effectual  by  the  acknowl- 
edging of  every  good  thing  which  is  in  you  in  Christ 
J  esus  ?  " 

To  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  look  too  little, 
but  the  least  thread  of  truth  is  full  of  undreamed-of  possi- 
bilities. If  xi^e  have  but  the  genuine  love,  and  sow  it  here 
and  there  over  the  great  field ;  if  we  hide  the  gospel  in 
every  kingdom  of  the  earth,  and  pray  that  it  have  room  and 
power  to  grow — the  great  branches  of  each  believing  life 
that  has  truly  lived  Christ's  love  will  be  a  shelter,  to  which 
all  world-wearied,  sin-stained  souls  may  fly  for  sympathy, 
help,  teaching,  guidance  and  strength.     Sow,  therefore,  O 


80  MRS-.    MORSE   STEWART. 

sower,  with  tears  of  thanksgiving  for  the  seed  itself ;   and 
wait  tliat  harvest  where  the  blessed  angels  are  the  reapers. 

Women  have  a  rare  right  of  service  in  this  field,  for 
the  one-half  of  the  field  is  made  np  of  women — women 
like  ourselves  in  all  save  the  great  fundamental  principles 
of  a  soul's  life  and  being — a  soul's  freedom — the  free  will 
of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  "We  must  ask  of  God 
and  man  that  they  have  from  henceforth  the  inalienable 
right  of  choice,  and  to  cause  them  to  become  sowers  in 
their  turn.  And  it  is  curious  to  see  amid  all  this  unusual 
gathering  how  intuitively  you — my  sisters — my  Presbyte- 
rian sisters — have  recognized  that  in  Christ  there  is  liberty. 
The  women  of  His  Church  have  in  this  great  transition 
time  been  quickened  by  a  vital  impulse  of  growth.  The 
pulse  of  a  new  and  better  and  deeper  purpose  of  life  throbs 
through  your  souls  this  day. 

In  a  simple,  womanly  fashion  you  have  come  independ- 
ently to  believe  that,  when  St.  Paul  said  "Ye  may  all 
prophesy  one  by  one — that  all  may  be  comforted  ;"  the 
words  limiting  this  permission,  "Let  your  women  keep 
silence  in  the  churches,"  were  but  a  command  to  be  silent 
under  special  circumstances,  and  implied  liberty  to  speak  in 
others. 

A  precept  to  be  silent  in  the  church  can  by  no  ingenuity 
be  made  to  impose  silence  in  the  worlds  from  the  hour, 
now  well-nigh  nineteen  centuries  ago,  when  the  first  Mary — 
blessed  among  women — with  prophetic  outcry  proclaimed, 
"His  mercy  is  on  them  that  fear  Him,  from  generation  to 
generation,"  because  of  her  coming  Redeemer.  Nor  yet 
from  the  day  when  another  Mary,  with  the  foresight  of 
faith,  broke  for  His  burial  the  box  of  precious  ointment 
(ere  His  less  discerning  disciples  had  consented  to  believe 
that  He  could  die),  and  later  in  His  history  went  seeking 


MISCELLAN^EOUS   WRITINGS.  81 

with  wistful  eyes  to  find  at  the  sepulchre  the  key  to  the 
mystery  of  a  conquered  grave.  Though  she  departed 
thence  unsatisfied,  did  she  not  return  again  with  the  birth- 
pang  of  faith  upon  her,  weeping  sore  with  her  pain,  which 
indeed  was  but  tlie  travail  of  hope,  until  she  heard  the  throb 
of  the  living  child  of  her  soul  in  that  simple  everyday  word 
of  her  life,  "  Mary."  What  wonder  she  was  swift  to  turn 
and  answer,  "  Rabboni ! "  and  would  fain  have  clasped 
Him  to  her  heart.  Recall,  oh  my  sisters,  how  Jesus  said 
unto  her,  "  Touch  me  not,  but  go  and  sayT 

This  was  not  her  commission  alone,  but  ours  through  all 
the  ages.  To  teach  Christ,  is  more  His  will  than  to  touch 
Him.  Slie,  a  weak,  but  faithful  woman,  was  the  first  mes- 
senger of  the  risen  Lord;  sent  straight  to  the  poor  coward 
who  had  denied  Him ;  sent  with  the  words  of  his  pardon 
and  the  good  tidings  of  His  near  ascension  "  to  my  God  and 
your  God." 

History  repeats  itself.  This  old  world  is  well  nigh  at 
the  end  of  its  sixty  centuries  since  God's  Sabbath  of  rest 
from  creation  — and  there  are  those  who  wait  in  hope  for 
the  long  rest  of  Christ's  glory  and  presence  on  earth,  when 
the  enemy  will  be  shut  and  sealed  away  in  the  great  pit. 
And  those  who  watch,  with  lamps  trimmed  and  burning,  for 
the  hour  which  no  man  knoweth — not  even  the  angels  of 
God — when  the  bridegroom  cometli ;  whisper  often  in 
tones  of  assurance,  "  It  can't  be  long  now." 

Thus,  by  some  subtle  impress  of  the  Spirit,  women  begin 

to  look  for  the  thing  spoken  of  by  Joel,  the  prophet,  and 

reiterated   in   that  wondrous  sermon   of  St.  Peter  to  "the 

hundred  and  twenty  believers  "  (of  whom  so  large  a  portion 

were  women),  "  who  were  with  one  accord  in  one  place." 

"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  \ 
n 


82  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh,  and  your  sons  and 
your  daughters  shall  prophesy,"  i.  (?.,  understand  and 
explain  the  mysterious,  hidden  sense  of  Scripture  by  an 
immediate  illumination  and  motion  of  the  Spirit." 

"With  the  simple  dignity  of  their  royal  birth.  Christian 
women  have  taken  the  right,  the  equal  right,  to  be  teachers 
and  helpers  of  men.  They  have  gone  to  the  battle  field, 
the  camp,  the  hospital,  to  the  drunkard  and  the  drunkard's 
home,  to  the  navies  of  England,  to  the  slums  of  America. 
They  have  gathered  the  orphans,  the  friendless,  the  aged 
and  the  suffering  children.  They  have  taught  in  the 
prison  and  in  the  Sabbath  schools  ;  and  in  these  later  days 
they  feel  that  all  is  not  enough,  that  the  shadow  of  a  great 
destiny  is  coming  upon  them.  And  we  hear  of  them 
taking  counsel  on  every  side,  as  you  are  this  day,  for  the 
service  of  the  King. 

When  of  old  you  read:  "The  Lord  gave  the  Word  ; 
great  was  the  company  of  those  who  published  it,"  the 
words  seemed  but  the  refrain  of  the  psalmist's  poetical 
thanksgiving.  Now,  with  deeper  insight,  you  know  they 
are  a  prophecy  of  the  last  times,  whose  fulfillment  is  in  the 
near  future — that  it  means  :  "  A  great  host  of  women  who 
publish  the  glad  tidings  of  Christ's  love  and  mercy  and 
kingly  coming." 

"  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him  ;"  to 
know  His  covenant.  His  whole  covenant,  until  He  conieth 
in  the  glorj^  of  His  Father,  with  the  holy  angels. 

Let  us  walk  equal  to  our  privileges  and  worthy  of  our 
vocation  ;  hastening  that  time  ;  ranging  ourselves  in  ranks 
as  the  reserved  corps  to  be  called  to  the  front  in  the  hour 
of  the  final  struggle  and  triumph  of  our  Kedeemer's  king- 
dom ;  knowing  that  before  such  "glory  the  kings  of  armies 
did  flee,  and  she  that  tarried  at  home  divided  the  spoil." 


MISCELLANEOtJS   WRITINGS.  83 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  TO  A  CONVENTION  OF  THE  M. 
W.  C.  T.  UNION,  HELD  IN  DETROIT,  DURING  FEB- 
RUARY, 1875. 

Ladies — In  behalf  of  a  band  of  quiet  but  determined 
workers  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  I  welcome  you  to-day. 
Our  counsels  and  our  deliberations  may  not  be  those  of  a 
mighty  host,  or  have  even  the  prestige  of  a  strong  hand, 
but  "  the  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift  nor  the  battle  to 
the  strong."  We  welcome  you  here  this  day,  to  record 
with  us  a  protest  against  an  evil  that  bids  fair  to  sap  the 
life-blood  of  this  Nation,  and  we  know  that  the  protest  of  a 
minority  that  fears  God  and  desires  to  obey  the  law  is 
potent  for  good,  for  it  finds  an  echo  in  the  heart,  the 
conscience,  the  observation,  the  common  sense  of  every 
intelligent  man,  woman  or  child  in  this  and  all  com- 
munities. The  still  small  voice  that  cannot  be  utterly 
stifled  responds  to  the  truth  and  necessity  of  our  dec- 
laration. 

The  living  wrecks  that  founder  in  our  streets,  the  best 
beloved,  the  brightest  in  the  highest  walks  of  life,  show 
how  the  trail  of  the  serpent  has  sapped  their  strength  or 
marred  their  beauty.  Even  the  dead  speak  for  us.  Their 
green  graves  on  that  hillside  city  which  is  all  their  own, 
warn  those  who  thread  the  mazes  of  its  silent  labyrinths 
that  there,  too,  sleep  hundreds,  aye,  thousands,  the  victims 
of  a  monster  whose  corrupting  breath  adds  horror  and  dis- 
quiet to  death.  From  many  pulpits  have  come  spoken 
words  to  old  and  young,  bold,  clear,  forceful  notes  of 
admonition.  But,  alas,  there  have  been  aching,  silent 
voids  even  among  these  altars  of  liope — a  silence  that  has 
been  construed,  nay,  we  believe,  misconstrued,  more  than 


84  MES.    MORSE   STEWAET. 

once,  into  consent  of  wrong.  Let  ns  pi'ay  God  that  a 
clearer  light  may  shine  upon  the  patliway  of  all  who  lead 
us  in  the  ways  of  righteousness. 

"We  have  cause  to  know  that  in  this  State  the  principles 
of  total  abstinence  have  fallen  upon  good  ground,  and  will 
everywhere  bring  forth  good  fruit ;  but  on  the  wouien  of 
Michigan  rests  the  burden  of  a  duty  imposed  of  God, 
Less  than  a  year  ago,  moved  by  one  mighty  impulse  of 
faith  and  consecration,  they  looked  to  an  ever-present 
Saviour  for  help  and  guidance  in  this  temperance  work  ;  and 
we  have  faith  to  believe  that  it  is  not  in  a  woman's  nature 
to  yield  a  point  of  duty.  Opposition  but  intensifies  her 
intent.  She  may  be  wounded,  she  maj^  be  beaten,  she  may 
be  slain,  but  she  lives  and  dies  unconquered,  believing  that 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church.  She 
perseveres,  for  she  knows  that  she — or  her  example — will 
breed  up  a  generation  that  will  carry  forward  to  its  fruition 
the  purpose  of  her  life.  This  is  a  great  transition  time  in 
the  history  of  temperance.  Let  us  unitedly  ally  ourselves 
more  firmly  than  ever  to  the  cause,  and  the  cause  alone — 
and  plead  that  God  will  give"  Wisdom  and  a  sound  mind" 
to  those  who  rule  over  us — that  they  may  order  all  law  for 
the  best  good  of  this  people. 

May  a  just  and  merciful  God  so  order  our  counsels  that 
from  all  quarters  of  this  State  we  shall  ask  in  His  name  our 
law  givers  and  law  makers  to  protect  those  who  are 
indirectly  the  greatest  sufferers  from  the  demon  of  drink, 
the  women  and  children. 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  85 


TRIBUTE  TO  MRS.  GILLMAN. 

More  than  fifteen  years  ago,  at  the  organization  of  tlie 
Ladies'  Christian  Union,  a  society  designing  to  do  Christian 
work — Mrs.  E.  M,  Gillman  was  named  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary, but  with  the  rare  self-abnegation  wliich  character- 
ized her  whole  life,  she  turned  to  Mrs. and  said  :    "If 

you  will  only  allow  your  name  to  go  before  the  public,  I 
will  gladly  do  every  line  of  the  work."  This  proposal 
could  not  be  accepted,  but  Mrs,  Gillman  became  Recording 

Secretary  and  Mrs. the  Correspondent  of  the  society, 

and  for  eight  years  these  two  women  wrought  as  with  one 
impulse  for  the  organization  and  perfecting  of  the  Home  of 
the  Friendless.  Its  work  was  detailed,  its  business  system- 
atized, its  large  usefulness  anticipated.  The  younger 
woman  of  the  two,  looking  back  as  she  does  this  day,  to 
these  small  beginnings,  realizes  with  more  intenseness  than 
ever  before  how  the  grand  faith  of  her  friend  stimulated 
into  positive   work  the  energies  of   their  little  company. 

Mrs.  E.  M.  Gillman  was  born  to  wealth  and  station  ;  was 
reared  in  luxury;  was  educated  with  scrupulous  care ;  was 
married  under  the  happiest  auspices,  and  spent  the  first 
decade  of  young  motherhood,  with  every  surrounding  her 
heart  could  desire  ;  and  then  step  by  step  came  such  sore 
trials,  such  weird  and  bitter  tests  of  her  intrinsic  goodness 
and  greatness,  that  we  did  homage  to  her  as  the  greatest  of 
those  who  were  "  Martyrs  without  the  Crown  and  Palm." 
Her  thorough  education,  her  large  nature,  her  great  trials, 
rallied  al)Out  her  staunch  and  faithful  friends.  To  rear  her 
ten  children,  became  the  indomitable  purpose  of  her  life ; 
and  yet  withal  she  found  time  to  comfort  those  who  were 
in    affliction,  to   help   the   poor,  to   lay  dee])  and   wide  tlie 


86  MRS.   MORSE  STEWART. 

foimdations  for  aid  to  them,  long  after  her  willing  hand  was 
resting  from  its  labors. 

There  was  heroic  greatness  and  goodness  about  this 
woman  ;  a  subtle  strength  that  was  like  the  aroma  of 
flowers.  She  "  took  no  moan  upon  her  mouth  "  —  "  she  let 
no  tears  run  smooth" — she  neither  fainted  nor  faltered, 
and  the  larger  the  need  of  faith,  the  stronger  became  her 
faithfulness.  Her  rapidly  failing  health  prevented  her 
being  present  at  the  dedication  of  our  new  Home,  but  she 
was  contented  not  to  see  the  fruition  of  her  plans. 

"  'Tis  somewhat  to  have  known 
One  woman  in  this  sorrowful  bad  earth, 
Whose  very  loss  can  yet  bequeath  to  pain 
New  faith,  new  worth." 

Looking  back  upon  her  life,  and  forward  to  her  home  on 
high,  we  remember  how  she  "counted  all  things  bat  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord."  The  refiner's  fire  had  but  purified  in  the  crucible 
of  flesh  the  rare  metal  of  her  spirit,  till  it  reflected  the 
imaffe  of  Him  who  was  her  "  all  in  all."  Life  had  been 
more  bitter  than  death,  and  to-day  we  know  she  stands 
among  those  of  whom  the  angels  said :  "  These  are  they 
which  come  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their 
robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  ; 
therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God  and  serve 
Him  day  and  night  in  His  temple." 

Tenderly,  on  the  nh  of  December,  did  her  six  sons  bear 

all   that  was    mortal    of   Eleanor   Gill  man  to  the   grave's 

mouth,  and  lay  it  to  rest  therein   in   the  sure   hope  of  a- 

blessed  Resurrection. 

I.  G.  D.  S. 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  87 


MY  FIRST  SABBATH  SCHOOL  CLASS. 

I  was  a  girl  of  fourteen  (but  quite  too  tall  for  forty), 
when  Mr.  S.  came  to  me  and  asked  if  I  would  take  ebaro-e 
of  a  class  in  his  Sabbath-school.  After  some  urging  I 
finally  consented,  not  because  I  was  in  any  way  fitted  for 
the  situation,  for  I  knew  better  than  that.  I  was  not  a 
Christian,  and  there  was  nothing  womanly  about  me  save 
iny  extra  feet  and  inches.  I  was  a  simple,  honest,  impul- 
sive child,  with  no  airs  and  graces,  and  this  work  had  come 
to  my  hand  to  do.  Therefore  I  promised  that  if  Mr.  S. 
would  assume  the  i-esponsibility  of  all  future  failure,  I 
would  do  what  I  could. 

On  the  next  Sabbath,  two  o'clock  found  me  at  the 


African  church,  M'liere,  drifting  with  the  tide  of  scholars 
and  teachers,  I  entered  a  dirty,  dark,  long,  low-ceilingcd 
room  (underneath  the  church),  which  was  used  during  the 
week  as  a  colored  school ;  and  from  its  general  air,  odor  and 
untidiness,  did  not  seem  ever  to  have  enjoyed  ventilation 
or  the  benefits  of  a  broom.  The  seats  were  hacked  and 
bumped  and  broken — even  the  very  floor  was  as  full  of 
ups  and  downs  as  some  people's  lives,  and  the  walls  a  mys- 
tery that  to  this  day  I  have  not  solved.  Whether  it  was 
dampness,  or  dirt,  or  the  contact  of  woolly  heads,  or  a 
chronic  kind  of  colored  mouldiness,  or  a  variety  of  shades 
of  white,  yellow  or  brown  wash,  I  never  knew.  Suffice  it 
that  the  whole  place  was  inexpressibly  dreary,  forsaken  and 
forlorn.  In  i)oint  of  discipline,  the  school  really  did  not 
seem  to  have  any — everything  went,  in  Yankee  parlance, 
"higgledy-piggledy."  There  were  com])lexions  of  eveiy 
color,  from  a  coal  l)hick  to  a  morbid  yellow,  and  all  ages, 
from   the  old  grandfather  of  eighty  to  the  bal)y  of  a  few 


88  MRS.  morsp:  stewart. 

months.     In   the   way  of  discipline,  Brotlier  M ,  who 

was  not  only  the  clergyman  on  Sabbath,  but  the  school- 
teacher during  the  week,  would  remorselessly  kick  the 
urchins'  shins,  or  seize  two  woolly  heads  and  bump  them 
together  or  against  tlie  seats  with  a  thundering  thud,  and 
no  child  ever  cried  or  resented  this  extraordinary  Sunday 
exercise.  I  saw  in  five  minutes  tiiat  I  had  put  my  hand  to 
a  plow  whose  furrows  must  go  through  stubborn,  strong, 
uneven  soil  enough  before  I  was  done  with  it,  yet  it  never 
occurred  to  me  to  flinch.  I  could  not  but  regi-et  the  hasty 
step  taken,  but  that  was  all  there  was  of  it.  A  conscript  in 
"  the  army  of  the  Lord,"  I  must  fight  like  tlie  most  earnest 
volunteer  of  them  all. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  I  spent  seated  quietly  on  a  side 
bench,  watching  Mr.  S.,  the  superintendent,  and   Brother 

M ,  the  colored  preacher,  trying  to  bring  some  sort  of 

order  out  of  the  chaos  that  surrounded  them,  during  which 
time  a  chapter  was  read,  a  prayer  offered,  and  a  hymn  sung. 
Then  my  friend  came  to  me  with  a  word  of  most  cordial 
welcome,  expressing  the  hope  that  I  was  "  pleased  with  the 
appearance  of  the  school,"  and  finished  by  leading  me  up 
and  introducing  me  to  what  he  smilingly  called  "your 
class." 

Before  me,  on  a  straight-backed  bench,  sat  six  large,  stout 
women,  whose  ages,  as  near  as  one  could  reckon  (for  col- 
ored people),  ranged  from  forty-eight  to  eighteen  years. 
My  young  heart  rather  sprang  into  my  mouth  at  this  sight, 
but  I  bowed  as  easily  as  I  could  and  took  the  chair  handed 
me  by  the  superintendent.  Before  he  left  us  I  asked, 
"  Who  has  been  their  teacher  before  ? "  and  received  the 
answer,  -•  Well,  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  another." 
After  that  I  thought  it  would   l)e  quite  as  well  to  examine 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  89 

the  individual  appearance  of  my  class  before  making  any 
further  demonstration. 

The  first  person  on  the  bench  was  a  very  black,  thick, 
rough-skinned  woman,  with  a  straight  nose,  yellow  teeth, 
a  cold,  stern  eye,  the  white  of  which  was  bloodshot,  and  not 
the  ordinary  African  feature ;  strong,  thin,  bony  hands, 
bleached  by  labor.  She  was  from  forty -five  to  forty-eight 
years  old ;  her  clothes  were  respectable  and  decent,  her 
demeanor  forbidding  and  repellant.  She  looked  at  me  as 
much  as  to  say,  "  See  here,  you  young  slip  of  a  thing,  if 
you  are  coming  here  to  teach,  teach  you  sliall.  My  Sun- 
days are  my  own,  and  if  I  choose  to  spend  them  learning 
to  read,  I  will  have  no  fooling.  I  will  see  to  yon,  my 
young  Miss,  and  keep  you  up  to  time,  you  may  depend 
upon  that."  And  I  did  depend  u23on  that.  I  taught  her 
patiently  for  almost  two  years,  and  never  drew  from  her 
the  slightest  manifestation  of  approval.  I  cannot  say  I 
liked  her,  yet  I  could  never  say  I  disliked  her.  I  feared 
lier  as  one  might  some  strong-willed  Mentor,  but  I  taught 
my  best  for  her.  I  helped  her  to  help  herself  through  the 
puzzling  words,  and  she  was  an  apt  and  faithful  scholar. 
I  found  her  name  was  Jane,  and  that  was  enough  to  know. 
Her  companion  on  the  left  was  a  perfect  contrast  to  Jane, 
for  she  had  a  skin  as  soft  and  smooth  as  a  baby's,^  and  as 
bright  and  brown  and  shining  as  a  coffee  berr}'  fresh  from 
the  burner.  Her  nose  was  broad  and  flat,  and  every  trait 
of  her  face  that  of  the  pleasantest  type  of  negroes.  She 
was  good  natured  and  kindly,  always  had  a  smile  for  me, 
and  her  white  teeth  beamed  out  light  from  a  dark  cloud. 
She  was  not  quick  to  learn,  but  her  hearty,  agreeable  man- 
ner made  her  a  pleasant  pupil.  Always  before  the  lesson 
began  she  would  percli  an  immense  pair  of  silver-bowed 
spectacles  upon  the  broad  bridge  of  her  nose,  heave  a  great 


12 


90  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

sigh,  give  an  encouraging  little  nod,  and  go  at  a  word  as  if 
it  was  the  purpose  of  her  life  to  spell  it  right.  I  never 
knew  this  woman's  name,  and  she  was  therefore  distin- 
guished as  the  woman  with  the  silver  spectacles. 

Then  there  came  two  other  indifferent  sort  of  creatures 
that  I  never  knew  apart.  They  were  seldom  both  present 
at  one  time,  and  I  could  not  tell  which  was  absent.  They 
came  because  it  was  the  fashion  to  come.  They  picked  up 
a  letter  here  and  a  word  there,  but  I  fancy  they  were  rather 
negative  characters.  I  did  my  best  for  them,  but  what  it 
amounted  to  at  this  day  I  cannot  say.  The  fiftli  and  last 
in  the  class  was  a  most  beautiful  girl  of  eighteen  or  twent3^ 
Her  complexion  was  that  I'ich,  creamj'  yellow,  through 
which  shone  flashes  of  rosy  color,  as  if  some  magic  lamp 
made  lambent  this  rare  but  exquisite  tint.  So  nearly  white 
was  she  that,  with  a  girlish  love  of  romance,  I  called  her 
Kebecca  (after  the  lovely  Jewess  in  Ivanhoe),  and  she 
answered  to  the  name  as  kindly  as  if  it  had  been  given  to 
her  by  her  sponsors  in  baptism.  She  was  not  intellectual 
(although  the  extreme  beauty  of  her  face  led  one  to  think 
and  believe  she  must  be  so),  and  many  a  time  I  have  heard 
her  spell,  "  W-w-w-w-o-o-o-r-r-r-l-l-l-d-d-d,  w-o-r-l-d — right- 
eousness." 

I  could  never  begin  to  recall  or  recount  the  absurd  errors 
and  blunders  of  the  sort  that  were  perpetually  taking  place 
in  the  class.  There  is  no  roj^al  road  to  learning,  but  I  am 
afraid  I  conducted  these  poor  souls  over  the  hardest  kind  of 
corduroy  with  my  primitive  instructions.  During  all  the 
term  of  my  teaching  them  I  never  saw  the  slightest  visible 
improvement,  unless  it  was  that  they  miscalled  letters  a 
little  less  often.  A  sharp  attack  of  illness  reduced  me  to 
that  pass  that  I  was  obliged  to  resign  my  class,  but  I  took 
care  that  it  fell  into  good  hands  before  I  was  sent  away  to 


MISCELLANEOUS   WETTINGS.  91 

school  at  the  sea-side,  and  for  two  years  heard  no  more  of 
mv  five  seliolars.  The  friend  in  whose  chare^e  I  left  tliem 
was  taken  sick,  and  she  transferred  them  to  her  sister,  who 
in  the  course  of  time  made  them  over  to  some  one  who  was 
a  total  stranger.  The  unanimous  report  was,  we  have  done 
the  best  we  could,  and  we  cannot  see  that  tliey  have  made 
the  slightest  advancement. 

Years  passed  on.  I  married,  and  soon  found  my  hands 
full  of  a  different  kind  of  teaching.  As  my  children 
grew  older,  I  often  told  them  of  the  poor  colored  women, 
who  were  so  anxious  to  learn  when  they  were  old,  and  it 
was  so  hard  for  them  that  I  thought  they  never  had  learned. 

It  was  full  twenty  years  after  I  commenced  my  colored 
instructions,  when  one  morning,  in  the  absence  of  the 
housemaid,  I  was  dusting  the  parlor,  and  flung  up  the 
window  sash  to  shake  out  ni}^  dusty  silk  handkerchief  and 
let  the  warmtli  of  the  fresh  May  morning  into  the  room. 
The  noise  caused  a  woman  passing  to  look  up,  "Why," 
said  she,  "good  morning.  Missis;  how  be  you?"  "Very 
well,  I  thank  you  ;  I  hope  you  are  enjoying  the  same  bless- 
ing." ""Well,  yes,"  said  she,  "I'm  prett}'  tongh  ;  workin' 
hard  seems  to  agree  with  me.  I  guess,  Missis,  you've 
forgot  who  I  be?"  There  was  nothing  left  for  me  but  to 
confess  the  fact.  Where  had  I  seen  her  and  known  her? 
"Why,  law,  you  was  my  Sunday  school  teacher,  when  you 
was  a  young  bit  of  a  thing,  and  you  taught  me  to  read."  I 
threw  up  my  hands  in  astonishment,  and  begged  her  to 
come  in  and  tell  me  something  of  my  old  class.  She 
accepted  the  invitation  and  sat  down,  looking  pleased  and 
happy  as  her  memory  fled  back  over  the  twenty  years  that 
had  passed.  The  first  person  I  asked  for  was  Jane,  for  the 
woman  had  a  kind  of  fascination  to  me ;  Avliere  was  she  ? 
"Oh  sakes,"  said  she,  "Jane's  dead  ;    she's  been  dead  this 


92  MRS.    MORSE  STEWART. 

tree  year.     She  was  an  awful  hard  working  woman,  and  she 
just  worked  herself  clean  to  death.     She  always  said  she 
would  give  her  children  good  educations,  and  she  did  ;   she 
sent   her   daughter   to   Oberlin,  and  she's  done  fust  rate. 
Oh,"  she  went  on,   "  Jane  was  most  a  beautiful  reader — if 
you  could   a  heard  her  read  the  Testament,  you'd  a  been 
glad  you  teached  her.     When  there  was  sickness  and  death 
'round,  Jane  never  spared  herself,  and  she  was  powerful  in 
prayer.     I  never  see  but  just  one  such  woman,  and  that  was 
Jane.     And  oh,  she  died  so  peaceable  and  happy,  it  was  a 
blessed  thing  to  see  her.     So  you  never  heered  Jane  was 
dead  ?     Why,  Missis,  we  always  knowed  all  about  you  ;  we 
knowed  who  was  a  waitin'  on  you  when  you  come  to  be  a 
young  lady,  and  when  you  got  married.     Jane  said  you'd 
married  a  first  class  gentleman.     She  know'd  all  his  folks 
down  in  New  York   State,  and  all  about  them,  and  she 
tho't  you'd  done  well.     She  said,  she  was  real  glad.     There 
was  one  spell  there  when  we  used  to  see  you  out  in  the  car- 
riage with  that  oldest  boy  of  yourn,  and  I  felt  sure  you 
was  a-goin'  to  die.     So  I  says  to  Jane,  '  Long  ago  she  was  a 
slim  thing  with  a  cough,  and   I  guess  she's  gone  into   a 
declined  now.'     But  Jane  said,  '  No,  not  a  bit  of  it ;    her 
eyes  look  lively  yit,  and  she  always  was  mighty  parse verin'; 
she'll  get  right  along.     She  ain't  one  of  the  kind  to  die  if 
she's  got   a  baby  to  take  care  of ;    you  see  she'll  stay  and 
tend  to  that  fust — I  know  her.'     But  the  tears  comed  into 
Jane's  eyes,  and  says  she,  '  May  the  Lord  bless  and  keep 
her,  and  make  her  faithful  to  the  end.'     Jane  wasn't  much 
of  a  talker,  but  what  she   said  she   meant,   and   maybe  a 
black  woman's  prayer  is  as  good  as  a  white  one's.     When 
we  see  the  carriage  a  gettin'  fuller  and  fuller  of  little  chil- 
dren, I  thought  Jane  was  about  right,  and  you  wouldn't  git 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.       ^  93 

much  of  a  chance  to  die  at  that  rate  ;  and,  Missis,  jou  be  a 
real  stout ish  looking  woman,  now  that's  a  fact." 

I  laughed,  though  my  e3'es  were  brimful,  and  acknowl- 
edged the  compliment.  And  then  went  on  to  ask  after 
Rebecca. 

"  Well,  now,"  said  she,  "  she  went  to  the  bad  long  ago  ; 
there  was  no  stoppin'  her.  Jane  and  I,  we  went  to  see  her, 
and  Jane  she  talked  to  her,  but  it  wa'nt  no  use;  she'd 
made  up  her  mind  to  go,  and  so  Jane  said,  '  You'd  just  got 
to  let  her.'  Two  of  her  children  died  of  watered  brains, 
and  she  got  consumpted  and  dropped  right  off.  Missis,  she 
wa'nt  a  good,  healthy  color,  though  we  all  knowed  you 
tliought  her  extra." 

"And  now,"  I  said,  "  what  ever  became  of  the  woman 
with  the  silver  spectacles?" 

"  Who  ever !"  said  she,  and  thrusting  her  hand  in  her 
pocket,  drew  out  and  mounted  on  her  nose  the  identical 
silver  bows.  In  an  instant  there  she  sat,  not  a  day  older 
than  she  had  seemed  a  score  of  years  before.  "  So  you 
didn't  know  me.  Well,  well,  that  is  funny."  And  she 
indulged  in  the  heartiest  laugh  possible  ;  the  very  baby 
that  had  crept  into  my  lap  during  the  conversation  joined 
in  it. 

"  Oh,"  I  said,  "  I  am  so  glad  it  is  you.  Now  tell  me 
about  yourself.     Did  you  ever  learn  to  read  ?  " 

"  Oh,  of  course  I  did ;  you  taught  me  that,  tho'  I  never 
was  no  sich  reader  as  Jane.  But  I've  read  my  Testament 
so  that  a  good  deal  of  it  comes  mighty  easy  now.  Oh, 
nobody  don't  know  what  a  comfort  it  is  after  you've  done 
a  hard  day's  washin',  to  sit  down  and  read  a  half  a  dozen 
verses  or  a  chapter.  I  thought  I  was  a  pretty  old  woman 
when  I  began  to  learn  to  read,  and  it  took  me  a  sight  of 
time  to  find  out  wlien  I  was  right  or  wrong  in  miscallin'  n 


94  ,.  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

word,  but  I  know  now.  I  can't  read  the  papers  so  well  as 
I  can  the  Testament,  and  I  don't  tr}^  much  ;  I've  done  a 
sight  of  work  in  mj  time,  but,"  said  she,  dropping  her 
voice,  "Missis,  I've  got  so  I  can  write  some." 

"Have  yon,  indeed!"  I  exclaimed.  "I  am  very  glad. 
Will  you  write  something  for  me  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  to  be  sure."  And  then  she  told  me  of  their 
church  and  of  a  festival  it  was  to  have,  and  a  great  deal 
more  that  I  found  myself  very  much  interested  in  ;  and 
after  she  left  me  I  went  about  my  daily  tasks  with  the 
fresh,  sunny,  hopeful  vigor  of  twenty  years  before. 

About  a  week  after  seeing  my  old  friend  in  the  silver 
spectacles,  a  couple  of  inch-wide  slips  of  paper,  rolled  in 
little  tight  rolls,  were  handed  in  at  the  door,  and  on  my 
return  from  a  drive  the  servant  brought  them  to  me  with- 
out a  word  of  explanation  or  comment.  I  undid  them,  and 
found  they  were  cut  from  the  blank  leaf  of  an  old  copy- 
book. On  one  was  written,  in  a  trembling,  though  plain, 
hand,  "  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions  ;  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you." 

On  the  other  : 

"  We  ought  always  to  labor  and  not  faint." 

And  below  : 

"Pies  excus  fur  I  bin  washin'.     S.  S." 

The  true  reading* of  the  verse  is  pray.  But  had  not  her 
daily  toil  been  a  perpetual  prayer  ?  Had  not  the  incense  of 
her  patient,  faithful  service  ascended  to  the  throne  of  God  ? 
She  had  but  scant  time  to  frame  elaborate  petitions; 
enouo-h  for  her  that  over  her  wash-tub  her  labor  had  been 
"  as  to  tlie  Lord,"  and  that  He  who  searcheth  tlie  heart 
knew  better  tlian  she  could  tell  Him  how  genuine  were 
longings  to  be  "  instant,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  serv- 
ing the  Lord." 


MISCELLAI^EOUS    WRITINGS.  95 

Rich,  faithful  heart !  warm,  glowing  sonl  !  Poor,  plod- 
ding creature  though  she  seemed,  she  could  read  and  write 
the  blessed  promises,  and  my  spirit  rose  in  thanksgiving  to 
our  heavenly  Father  for  having  let  me  see  for  myself  the 
full  blessedness  of  the  command  and  promise  which  I 
wrote  below  the  poor,  or  rather  rich  (for  had  she  not  the 
full  assurance  of  faith  ?)  washerwoman's  name  :  "  Cast  thy 
bread  upon  the  waters,  and  after  many  days  it  will  return 
to  thee  again." 


WHO  CAN  PROTECT  THE  CHILDREN  ? 

We  answer,  promptly,  our  legislators — and  they  alone. 
"We  wish  the  gentlemen  who  make  our  laws  would  sit 
through  a  single  Reference  Committee  meeting  with  us. 
It  may  be,  their  conscience  would  waken  a  little  from  the 
hopeless  lethargy  into  which  they  have  fallen  as  regards 
their  duty  to  the  helpless  children.  The  theory  of  life  is 
that  parents  love  their  children,  but  when  drink  takes  pos- 
session of  man  or  woman,  the  victim,  the  innocent,  helpless 
victim  of  the  demon  of  intemperance  is  invariably  his  or 
her  child.  We  have  known  babies  starved  to  death  by  a 
drunken  mother's  feeding  them  with  whisky  till  their  poor 
little  brains  were  burned  up.  Broken  heads  or  legs,  or 
arms,  are  an  everyday  occurrence  ;  broken  backs  happen 
more  frequently  than  people  in  general  suppose.  Some- 
times a  desperate  woman  in  fear  of  being  killed  outright, 
and  illustrating  on  her  bruised  and  discolored  face  and  per- 
son the  force  of  Sam  Slick's  aphorism,  "  There  is  a  sight  of 
wear  in  human  nature,"  presents  herself  at  the  Home,  chil- 
dren and  all.  We  take  her  in,  of  course— nurse  her  often- 
times-through a  run  of  fever  consequent  upon  her  bruises 
— and  more  than  once  have  seen  the  father,  better  say  the 


96  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

master,  of  this  miserable  family  march  them  back  to  the 
bare  walls  and  broken  old  stove  that  constitutes  their  home. 
The  Eeference  Committee  have,  at  present,  the  two  follow- 
ino-  cases  before  them,  and  we  commend  them  to  the 
perusal  of  every  man  who,  by  his  presence  or  his  vote,  can 
influence  the  making  or  unmaking  of  a  law, 

]y[rs.  H ,  a  pretty -looking  young  woman,  with    her 

young  babe  in  her  arms,  came  to  Detroit  in  1866  ;  said  her 
husband  was  in  the  State  Prison  in  Cleveland,  and   told  a 
long   story  of    destitution  and  wretchedness ;    she   had    a 
mother  and  one  or  two  young  sisters.     This  woman  was 
helped,   as   was   her   mother,    by  nearly  every   prominent 
church   in    the   city,    individuals    innumerable   aided    her 
largely,  the  poormaster  fairly  kept  her  on  his  books  to  save 
the  perpetual  repetition  of  the  story  (that  no  one  believed) 
of  her  wasteful  extravagance  in  the  use  of  food,  wood,  etc. 
In  time  her  health  failed  and  she  was  sent  to  Harper's  Hos- 
pital, and  this  summer,  within  a  few  weeks  past,  died  of 
consumption  at  St.  Luke's.     The  husband  served  his  time 
out  in  the  Cleveland  prison,  came  to   Detroit,  and  is  now 
sentenced  for  a  term  of  years  to  the  Michigan  State  Prison. 
This   convict,  this    felon,    this   depraved    and    debauched 
creature  now  confides  his  two  children  to  a  young  woman 
utterly  unfitted  by  her  past  or  present  life  to   bring  them 
up  with  any  regard  to  principle,  and  we  women  who  could 
put  these  little  ones  into  good  homes  where  they  would  be 
surrounded  by  good  and  wholesome  influences,  must  stand 
still  and  see  them  grow  to  womanhood  in  the  pestilent  dens 
of  the  city  because  there  is  no  law  for  such  a  case.     "  The 
law   presupposes    mutual    affection    and    regard    between 
parent  and  child."     "  Tlie  law  considers  that  the  parent  has 
the  first  right  to  his  child."     Are  not  tiie  laws  of  morality 
a  thousand  times  higher  than  any  claim  based  upon  blood  ? 


MISCELLANEOUS    WIUTIXGS.  97 

Because  a  man's  wife  has  borne  him  a  child  does  this  fact 
alone  endow  him  with  the  right  to  make  the  Httle  creature 
his  slave  in  perpetuity  ?  Does  it  give  him  the  right  to 
breed  up  a  wretched,  debauched,  depraved,  distorted, 
demoralized  troop  of  children  that,  because  they  are  his,  he 
can  order  according  to  his  hideous  will  and  make  in  the  end 
but  leprous  blotches  in  the  lowest  stratum  of  the  social 
world,  contaminating,  it  may  be,  the  children  of  good  men 
and  women  ? 

We  do  not  deny  that  there  is  crime  enough,  and  to 
spare,  in  the  world  ;  but  we  deny  the  right  of  any  man  or 
woman  to  bring  a  child  up  to  a  life  of  crime  ;  and  we  claim 
that  our  lawmakers  owe  it  to  society  that  all  helpless 
human  beings  should  be  protected  from  the  misrule  of  a 
flagrant  criminal. 

The  second  case  is  somewhat  different,  but  far  more 
common. 

A  woman  with  live  children,  the  oldest  but  nine  years 
of  age.  She  is  a  respectable,  industrious,,  broken-spirited 
creature  who  clings  with  desperation  to  her  children  and 
her  home.  The  father  drinks,  drinks  constantly,  drinks  till 
he  is  wild  with  the  delirium  tremens,  and  sells  all  he  can 
lay  his  hands  on,  while  they  starve  and  perish  with  cold  and 
hunger  and  dismay.  The  mother  sees  that  living  in  this 
pandemonium  will  destroy  the  morals  of  her  little  family  in 
a  year  or  two  more,  and  so  she  brings  them  to  the  Home, 
and  there  she  sits  in  dumb  despair  and  weeps  and  moans, 
and  realizes  every  hour  how  helpless  she  is,  how  insufficient 
her  scanty  earnings  are  to  gain  them  a  roof  and  bread 
How  quickly  her  husband  would  walk  into  any  little  rest- 
ing place  she  might  make  for  herself  and  claim  his  right  to 
occupy  and  destroy  it. 


98  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

"  Ginx's  baby  was  not  an  ill-favored  child.  He  had 
inherited  his  father's  frame  and  strength  ;  these  helped 
him  through  the  changes  we  are  relating.  What  if  these 
capacities  had  by  simple,  nourishing  food,  cleanly  care- 
takinof,  and  kindlier  associations  been  trained  into  full 
working  order  ?  Left  alone  or  ill  tended  they  were  daily 
dwindling,  and  the  depression  was  going  on,  not  solely  at 
the  expense  of  little  Ginx,  but  of  the  whole  community. 
To  reduce  his  strength  (moral  or  physical)  one-half,  was  to 
reduce  one-half  his  chances  of  independence,  and  to  mul- 
tijply  the  ])rospect  of  his  continuous  ajpjplication  for 
State  aid. 

"  Every  day  through  this  wealthy  country  there  are  men 
and  women  busy  marring  the  little  images  of  God  that  are 
by-and-by  to  be  part  of  its  public,  shadowing  young  spirits, 
repressing  their  energy,  sapping  their  vigor,  or,  failing  to 
make  it  up,  corrupting  their  nature  h^  foul  associations, 
moral  and  physical.  Some  are  doing  it  by  special  license 
of  the  devil,  otiiers  by  act  of  Parliament^ 

Clear  the  board,  gentlemen.  (Amen !  !  !)  True  regen- 
erative legislation  will  begin  by  drawing  away  the  rubbish. 
Reform,  means  more  than  repair.  Mend,  patch,  take  down 
a  little  here,  prop  up  some  tottering  nuisance  there,  fill 
in  gaping  chinks  with  patent  legislative  cement,  coat  old 
facades  with  bright  paint,  hide  decay  beneath  a  gloss  of 
novelty,  decorate,  furbish,  and  after  all.  your  house  is  not  a 
new  one,  but  a  whited  sepulchre  shaking  to  decay. 

And  Reform  we  must  have  if  the  coming  generation  of 
the  lower  classes  is  not  to  be  the  direst  curse  to  this  free 
country. 


MISCELLANEOUS    WRITINGS.  99 


DANGEROUS  BOOKS. 

It  is  safe  to  say  tliat  more  than  one-half  of  the  vohmies 
published  in  this,  or  any  other  conntr}^,  are  open  to  the 
charge  of  being  "  dangerous  books,"  and  we  have,  there- 
fore, no  thought  of  pointing  out  to  our  readers  those  that 
are  erroneous  in  their  philosophizing,  sensational  in  their 
fancies,  or  heterodox  in  their  teachings.  We  leave  this 
work  to  older  and  wiser  heads  than  our  own.  But  it  has 
come  to  pass  within  the  last  few  years,  that  books  claim- 
ing to  be  both  "  psychological  and  physiological"  in  their 
character  have  been  written  expressly  for  the  perusal  of 
women,  or  have  been  put  forth  as  a  mawkish  and  beggarly 
plea  in  her  behalf.  Two  or  three  months  ago  we  chanced 
to  enter  a  physician's  office  just  as  a  book  peddler  was  leav- 
ing it.  There  was  evident  excitement  and  heat  on  the  part 
of  both,  and  words  of  contempt  and  disgust  had  been 
bestowed  upon  the  unfortunate  individual  who  had  only 
expected  encouragement  and  patronage  in  the  sale  of  a 
book,  the  title  of  which  we  forbear  to  give  here  or  else- 
where. We  would  not  advertise,  for  any  pecuniary  com- 
pensation, anything  of  the  kind,  and  we  will  not  allow 
ourselves,  in  tiying  to  point  out  its  dangerous  teachings,  to 
even  name  it,  although  it  is  counted  the  very  best  of  its 
kind.  Suffice  it  to  say,  our  medical  friend  handed  us  the 
advertisement  of  the  work  in  question.  We  glanced  over 
it,  and  saw  a  very  fair  and  plausible  statement  of  its  neces- 
sity and  desirability  as  a  guide  and  counselor  to  both 
mother  and  daughter ;  that  it  was  written  with  great  care, 
and  was  thoroughly  unobjectionable  in  all  respects.  This 
was  followed  by  a  series  of  letters  from  minister  after  min- 
ister, in  this  and  other  States,  giving  it   their  unqualified 


100  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

support  and  recommendation.  Foremost  among  these  was 
a  very  reverend  (perhaps  it  would  be  more  truthful  if  we 
said  a  very  irreverend)  preacher  in  New  York.  Then  came 
extracts  from  the  comments  of  "the  falsely  so-called 
religious  press;"  and  on  the  whole  the  showing  was  so 
enticing  that  we  were  tempted  to  say  :  "  There  are  many 
books  that  find  their  way  about  among  the  very  best  of 
women,  that  are  glossed  over  so  as  not  to  exhibit  their  real 
depravity,  and  are  the  work  of  designing  and  abominable 
men  ;  now,  if  'this  really  is  what  it  claims,  it  may  be  just 
what  is  needed."  "  The  table  of  contents  was  enough  for 
me,"  was  the  sharp  reply,  "  and  no  woman  could  be  the 
better  of  the  perusal  of  such  sort  of  stufif ;  for  a  young  girl 
it  can  be  nothing  less  than  demoralizing." 

Some  weeks  later,  the  February  number  of  the  Louisville 
Journal  of  Medicine  was  put  into  our  hands,  and  a  caustic, 
but  none  the  less  just,  criticism  of  this  very  volume  pointed 
out.  Premising  that  "  if  it  be  a  fit  work  for  the  women  of 
this  country  it  ought  to  be  generally  and  universally  known, 
but  if  the  contrary,  surely  the  sooner  it  is  understood  the 
better  will  it  be  for  the  purity  and  welfare  of  American 
women.  That  the  clergy  should  recommend  this  book  is 
not  surprising  to  any  one  even  superficially  conversant  with 
the  relations  which  the  pulpit  has  long  borne  to  legitimate 
medicine.  It  may  well  be  said  that  the  certificates  of  the 
clergy  have  long  ceased  to  be  worth  the  pen,  ink  and  paper 
used  in  their  preparation,  Tlie  recommendations,  then,  of 
this  work  by  the  clergy,  are  as  natural  as  they  are  worth- 
less ;  but  it  is  indeed  surprising  that  medical  men  should 
have  followed  such  an  example,  and  should  have  given 
their  testimonials  with  an  equal  readiness  and  precipitancy. 
There  is  but  one  way  of  accounting  for  their  course,  and 
this  is  by  supposing,  charitably,  that  like  Charles  Lamb, 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  lOl 

they  refused  to  read  the  work  for  fear  of  having  their  criti- 
cism ill  any  measure  blazed." 

We  have  not  come  to  think  so  little  or  so  lightly  of  the 
judgment  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  He  who  breaks  for 
us  the  bread  of  life — who  is  under-sheplierd  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  and  to  whom  we  go  for  counsel  in  our  extremity 
when  the  holy  oracles  of  God  are  sealed  to  us — is  not  to  be 
lightly  esteemed ;  and  though  there  are  flagrant  instances 
of  ministers  who  have  made  their  word  and  their  callino-  a 
by-word  and  a  reproach,  we  thank  God  that  these  are  the 
exception  and  not  the  rule  among  our  pastors. 

Should  one  of  these  have  thus  abused  our  confidence  and 
led  us  to  put  a  volume  so  fraught  with  evil  into  our  daugh- 
ters' hands,  we  frankly  confess,  through  God's  grace  alone 
could  we  have  forgiven  him,  but  trusted  him  again — never. 
Such  fallibility  leads  us  to  see  and  know  that  women  alone 
can  judge  for  women  ;  a  mother's  instincts  are  surer  and 
truer,  and  more  God-given  than  any  mere  opinion  of  man, 
no  matter  how  conspicuous  he  may  be  for  his  liberal  views 
or  his  literary  attainments.  In  anything  so  delicate  as  the 
training  of  a  young  girl's  mind,  no  stranger  may  inter- 
meddle. Much  has  been  said  of  what  ouocht  and  what 
ought  not  to  be  told  to  girls,  and  much  reasoning  spent, 
upon  a  question  that  must  in  the  end  be  resolved  by  the 
temperament,  temptations  and  surroundings  of  each  indi- 
vidual mother  and  dauffhter. 

But  we  agree  heartily  with  a  medical  writer  who,  in  1867, 
in  opposition  to  the  prevailing  idea  of  teaching  physiology 
to  school  girls,  says  :  "  This  great  mystery  of  womanhood 
which  lies  hidden  deep  in  the  heart  of  every  fair  'girl 
graduate'  among  them,  becomes  besmirched  by  vulgar  con- 
tact with  the  naked  facts  of  her  organization.  Too  often 
the  pure,  high,  sensitive  soul   is  shocked   by   this    ruthless 


102  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

tearing  away  of  the  veil  which  her  own  and  her  compan- 
ions' ignorance  and  innocence  has  woven  for  her.  She 
could  have  ridden  naked  as  Godiva  through  the  world,  pro- 
tected by  the  radiance  born  of  modest  ignorance,  and  been 
as  pure  as  she^  when  'clothed  upon  with  chastity.'  Yet,  if 
her  own  rash  curiosity  has  tempted  her  to  take  of  that  for- 
bidden fruit  '  whose  mortal  taste  brought  death  into  tlie 
world  and  all  our  woe,'  and  she  has  learned  with  reckless 
daring  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  then  slie  turns,  not 
with  modesty  to  hide  herself  from  the  eyes  of  man,  but 
with  that  shame- facedness  that  springs  from  guilt,  and  finds 
she  knows 

' '  Both  good  and  evil ;  good  lost  and  evil  got ; 
Bad  fruit  of  knowledge." 

There  is  tremendous  pertinence  in  the  question  of  the 
Lord  God  to  her  who  was  "  the  general  mother  of  man- 
kind," as  she  stood  trembling  before  him  in  her  garment  of 
leaves  :  "  Who  toldest  thee  thou  wert  naked  ?"  With  this 
fatal  knowledge  came  her  curse  :  "I  will  greatly  multiply 
thy  sorrow  and  thy  conception — in  sorrow  thou  shalt  bring 
forth  children."  For  full  six  thousand  years  has  this 
relentless  doom  been  the  heritage  of  every  daughter  of  Eve. 
The  promise  of  Jesus,  our  blessed  Lord,  "  They  shall  be 
saved  in  child-bearing  if  they  continue  in  faith  and  charity 
and  holiness  with  sobriety,"  is  the  only  mitigation  of  their 
misery.  Who  can  account  for  the  mental  and  spiritual 
blindness  that  has  fallen  upon  the  instructors  of  this  land 
that  they  should  be  wiser  than  God  ?  Since  our  lirst 
parents  were  beguiled  from  the  purity  of  their  first  estate, 
by  a  craving  for  more  knowledge  than  in  the  infinite  wis- 
dom of  their  Creator  was  deemed  enough  for  their  happi- 
ness and  purity,  there  has  been  the  same  sad  thirst  for  a 
knowledge  of  evil ;    and  do  our  educators  so  entirely  lack 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  103 

common  sense  as  to  suppose  tlie}'  can  say  to  the  grasping, 
intelligent,  youtlifnl  mind,  craving  to  know  all  the  mys- 
teries of  nature,  and  especially  tlrose  of  their  own  being, 
"  thus  far  shalt  thou  go  and  no  farther  ? " 

They  have  indeed  but  fitted  their  pupils  to  be  the  ready 
prey  of  the  traveling  lecturer  on  "  Physiology,"  and  "  The 
Laws  of  Health,"  v\'ith  its  separate  classes  for  the  sexes; 
sharpened  their  wits  to  appreciate  the  numerous  and 
shameless  advertisements  contained  in  the  daily  gazettes  or 
the  books  and  pamphlets  thrown  broadcast  over  the  land, 
under  every  specious  pretext,  yet  all  with  selfish  and  sinis- 
ter designs.  Who  will  deny  that  all  these  contrivances  to 
destroy  the  modesty,  aye,  the  very  virtue  of  our  people, 
gotten  up,  as  they  too  often  are,  under  the  guise  of  philan- 
thropy, are  but  the  outcroppings  of  a  system  of  education 
which,  however  modestly  conducted,  has  indirectly  fostered 
the  wicked  purposes  of  bad  men,  who  for  greed  defraud, 
deceive  and  demoralize  those  whom  the  system  of  instruc- 
tion, approved  and  adopted  among  us,  has  educated  to  be 
their  auditors.'' 

If,  then,  a  mother  by  her  rare,  pure,  loving,  yet  watchful 
eyes,  has  won  back  for  her  child — for  her  daughter — some- 
thing of  the  old  sweet  innocence  of  a  lost  Eden,  let  no 
ruthless  tempter  enter,  with  his  promised  gift  of  knowl- 
edge, the  sacred  precincts  of  a  home  or  a  chamber  ;  let  no 
book,  though  it  be  recommended  by  a  hundred  clergymen 
and  fift}^  doctors,  gain  admission  there.  It  was  ever  one  of 
the  wiles  of  the  adversary  "  to  steal  the  livery  of  heaven  to 
serve  the  devil  in ;"  and  the  most  adroit  thieves  are  those 
whom  we  trust  because  they  have  a  Rev.  prefixed  to  their 
name. 

"The  girl  of  the  period,"  we  are  thankful  to  say,  is  not 
the  representative  of  more  than  her  class,  and   up  to  this 


104  MRS.    MOESE   STE\yAIlT. 

day  that  class  is  small  and  despicable.  Indeed,  we  have 
known  the  daughters  of  wicked,  and  even  profligate 
women,  whose  social  progress  and  position  was  both  cor- 
rupt and  corrupting,  so  guard  their  children  as  to  keep 
them  measurablj^  free  from  the  taint  of  impurity  which  had 
tarnished  their  own  lives.  Yet,  we  have  known  other 
mothers  negatively  good,  but  positively  weak,  vain,  indo- 
lent, frivolous  beings,  who  sought  and  desired  for  their 
daughters  all  the  w^orldliness,  the  dress,  the  fashion,  the 
ball,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  lascivious  "  round  dances" 
that  mark  this  present  as  a  rapidly  progressive  period  of 
evil.  Such  are  the  daughters  who  come  to  be  the  "girls 
of  the  period,"  who  debase  their  sex;  and  the  sweet  and 
redolent  aroma  of  youth,  which  is  in  itself  a  great  beauty, 
becomes  in  them  a  thousand  times  more  frightful  (to 
thoughtful  minds)  than  the  deepest  wrinkles  of  even 
worldly  old  age.  Already  the  public  dancing  schools  of 
this,  as  well  as  other  cities,  are  disgraced  by  the  most  flag- 
rant exhibitions  of  habits  of  intemperance,  not  confined, 
alas,  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks.  Young  girls  are 
sent  to  such  places  with  no  protector  whatever,  no  chap- 
eron ;  and  the  mothers,  finding  such  hotbeds  of  vice  have 
produced  their  legitimate  effects,  and  are  corrupting  body 
as  well  as  soul,  turn  to  books  like  the  one  we  have  before 
us,  to  warn  them  of  the  dangers  of  the  dance. 

Faugh !  all  this  is  but  adding  fuel  to  the  flame,  and  what 
is  now  a  small  but  conspicuous  class  will  recruit  its  ranks 
from  the  daughters  of  every  household  of  the  land  ere 
another  generation  has  passed  away. 

The  Bible  holds  for  us  a  whole  compendium  of  "  psy- 
chology and  physiology,"  and  the  laws  which  were  given 
by  inspiration  of  God  to  Moses  were,  and  are,  sufficient  for 
the  whole  human  family,  and  need   only  the  exponent  of 


MISCELLANEOUS    WRITINGS.  105 

common  sense  to  furnish  a  woman  with  what  knowledge 
may  be  good  for  her.  It  is  possible  there  would  be  less 
suffering  and  death  among  our  sex  if  those  Old  Testament 
laws  were  more  rigidly  observed. 

Tennyson,  in  his  Lucretius,  points  a  moral  the  most  will- 
fully blind  dare  not  overlook,  and  teaches  us  with  gentle, 
yet  persistent  force,  that  the  love  worth  having  and  worth 
holding  can  be  held  alone  by  pure  and  holy  virtue,  outside, 
above,  beyond  the  flesh. 

It  is  not  good  or  seemly  that  a  woman  measure  herself 
intellectually  with  a  man.  The  late  Mrs.  Percy  B.  Shelley 
said,  with  a  pathetic,  yet  proud,  humility  :  "  In  short,  my 
belief  is,  whether  there  be  sex  in  souls  or  not,  that  the  sex 
of  our  material  mechanism  makes  us  quite  different  creat- 
ures, better,  though  weaker,  but  wanting  in  the  higher 
grades  of  intellect." 

She  knew,  as  we  all  ought  to  know,  that  a  woman's 
power  is  her  moral  power  in  her  family  (and  the  family 
is  but  the  integer  of  that  society  we  call  the  world) ;  she 
is  a  conservator  ;  it  is  she  wlio  trains  her  sons  to  truth, 
integrity,  courage,  honor  ;  lier  dangliters  to  purity,  self- 
abnegation,  patience,  stability,  and  holy  living,  and  for  this 
she  is  content  with  that  simple  way  of  God  in  which  the 
simplest  need  not  err.  She  needs  no  extraneous  aids 
addressed  specifically  to  her  sex.  We  confess  frankh'  we 
have  not  read  the  book  upon  which  we  feel  free  to  com- 
ment so  indignantly,  but  we  have  read,  as  far  as  we  could 
with  anything  like  toleration,  the  table  and  extracts  given 
as  samples  of  its  contents.  We  have  read  this  that  wc 
might  warn  first,  those  of  our  readers  who  are  mothers, 
not  to  admit  this  pestiferously  suggestive  volume  to  their 
homes  ;  and  last,  that  we  might  say  to  the  hundreds  of  fair 

13 


106  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

young  girls  wlio,  we  are  told,  seize  the  little  Messenger 
and  read  it  through  and  through  the  moment  it  is  dis- 
tributed in  town  or  village — whose  loving  hearts  and  help- 
ful hands  are  always  ready  to  accept  and  aid  our  suffering 
children — look  well,  oh,  young  daughters !  to  your  walk, 
conversation  and  reading  ;  let  the  great  mystery  of  woman- 
hood be  a  sealed  volume  to  you,  remembering  that  some 
wily  serpent  of  a  book  might  tempt  you  to  grow  wise  as 
Eve,  and  with  such  wisdom  fall  from  your  first  estate  of 
innocence.  Be  then  ever  on  the  watch  to  keep  unspotted 
from  the  world,  content  to  know  and  think  less  of  your- 
selves than  of  others,  not  curious  or  prying,  lest  you  lose 
the  bloom  of  heart  and  soul  that  makes  you  fresh  and  fair 
to  all  the  world,  and  all  the  world  so  fresh  and  fair  to  you. 


An  article  published  by  IMrs.  Stewart  in  the  Hom.e  Messenger  for 
April  last,  entitled  "Who  are  the  Poor  of  the  Church  op 
Christ  ? "  is  so  suggestive  of  the  gentle  delicacy  with  which  she 
was  wont  to  "investigate"  individual  cases  of  "the  poor,"  and  so 
Christ-like  in  the  proposed  method  of  dealing  with  such  cases,  that  we 
are  sure  it  may  be  read  over  again  with  profit. 

When  our  Lord,  who  had  taught  His  disciples  by  precept 
and  example  to  have  compassion  on  the  poor,  to  feed  the 
multitude,  to  show  by  their  deeds  tiie  principles  that 
influenced  their  walk,  they  were  not  (being  men)  broad 
enough  to  take  in  the  act  of  worship  that  involved  a  lavish 
"  waste "  of  money  in  the  breaking  of  the  alabaster  box. 
There  are  times — and  they  come  oftener  than  we  are  aware 
— when  it  is  well  "  not  to  withhold  thy  hand."  Nothing  is 
so  fatally  narrowing  to  Christian  love — nay,  even  Christian 
character — as  "  investigation,"  especially  where  it  is  made 
in  the  spirit  of  distrust.     Not  that  we  would  counsel  indis- 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  107 

criminate  charity,  which  usually  gives  its  award  to  the  most 
dramatic  and  unworthy,  but  ever  let  judgment  lean  to 
Mercy's  side — "hope  that  a  woman  is  reasonably  innocent 
until  the  facts  prove  her  guilty  of  something," — and,  even 
then,  put  yourself  in  her  place  and  realize  who  it  is  that 
"  maketh  thee  to  differ."  The  old  law  of  Moses,  whicii 
was  premised  by  a  whereas,  i.  e.,  "  For  the  poor  shall  never 
cease  out  of  the  land,  therefore,  I  command  thee,  open 
thine  hand  wide  unto  thy  brother,  to  thy  poor  and  to  thy 
needy  in  the  land,"  Does  Moses  say  the  good  poor?  Did 
Christ  "  investigate "  the  five  thousand  to  see  how  many 
were  "worthy?"  The  disciples  and  the  Master  knew  that 
the  loaves  and  fishes  were  a  great  attraction  to  these  aim- 
less, shiftless,  floating  folk  ;  only  one  boy  had  even  a  lunch 
with  him,  but  he  had  come  provided  "  to  follow  Jesus  ;" 
perhaps  to  offer  his  simple  portion  to  his  Lord.  The  unwit- 
ting disciples  began  at  once  to  count  what  it  would  cost  to 
find  enough  for  so  many  hungry  folk  to  eat,  but  the  Lord 
made  the  five  loaves  {i.  e.,  biscuits)  and  the  two  fishes  (^.  e., 
herring)  feed  this  goodly  company  and  leave  twelve  baskets 
full  ("  one  apiece  for  each  reluctant  disciple.")  Some  3'ears 
ago  our  neighbor,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  whose  giving 
was  wildly  indiscriminate,  was  softly  counseled  by  his  war- 
den to  be  more  cautious.  "  No  !  "  he  burst  out,  "  no,  I  will 
give  first  and  examine  afterwards.  I  will  not  be  reasoned 
or  juggled  out  of  my  Christian  right  and  privilege.  Christ 
said  :  '  Ye  have  the  poor  with  you  always,'  and  '  toliensoevei' 
ye  will  ye  may  do  them  good  ! '  No,  sir  ;  I  will  not  cross- 
question  and  wound  and  insult,  by  implication,  if  no  other 
way,  a  poor  creature  who  sees  in  me  a  follower  of  Christ." 
"  The  true  currency  of  beneficence,  in  which  our  debts  to 
God's  needy  ones  are  to  be  paid,  is  not  money,  hut  love. 


108  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

This  is  an  old  truth."  And  yet  there  are  still  some  Chris- 
tians who  think  to  discharge  their  debts  by  gifts  of  money 
merely,  and  others  who,  because  they  can  give  no  money, 
imagine  that  they  have  no  debts  to  discharge.  If  the 
choice  must  be  made,  love  without  money  would  be  a  truer 
Christian  gift  than  money  without  love. 

Said  a  clergyman  whose  avenue  church  is  very  near  a 
"  Five  Points  "  quarter  of  Detroit :  "  There  must  be  some- 
thing radically  wrong  with  the  church  when  the  poor  will 
not  enter  our  doors.  We  must  be  too  prosperous  and  crit- 
ical, or  they  might  trust  us ;  we  baptize  their  living  and 
bury  their  dead,  but  they  say  :  '  You  don't  want  us  ; '  and  I 
fear  we  do  not  want  them  as  we  ought."  "  And  they  began 
to  say  unto  him,  one  by  one.  Is  it  I ;  Lord,  is  it  I?" 


CHARLES   DICKENS. 
From  the  Messenger  of  July,  1870. 

So  much  has  been  said  in  eulogy  of  Charles  Dickens  that 
it  seems  like  presumption  for  this  little  sheet  to  utter  a 
word  more  upon  the  genius  of  this  great  man,  and  yet  it 
has  not  been  our  good  fortune  to  see  the  key-note  of  his 
character  as  a  writer  fairly  struck.  Here  and  there  it  is 
hinted  at,  but  what  eulogist  has  yet  told  us  that  Charles 
Dickens  had  a  far  wider  influence  as  a  phihmthropist'than 
Howard  ?  Who  has  said  that  after  his  first  successful 
fiction,  when  he  had  gained  the  public  heart  and  confi- 
dence, he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  setting  before 
his  readers  the  wrongs  which  abounded  in  cheap  Yorkshire 
schools,  English  work-liouses,  debtors'  prisons,  the  court  of 
chancery,  etc.  ?  He  made  patent  the  hard,  brave  struggle 
of  Trotty  Veck,  or  Cratchit  Senior,  or  the  Pegottys,  and  a 
hundred   more,  to  be  honest,  true,  independent  men  and 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  109 

women.  He  showed  us  what  heroes  there  were  among 
these  "  common  people  ;  "  he  forced  us  to  say  to  our  own 
hearts,  "  Would  you  have  come  through  such  fiery  ordeals 
unscathed?"  This  man  compelled  us  to  give  to  every  beg- 
gar in  the  street  a  chance  to  earn  our  respect.  With  Oliver 
Twist,  and  Smike,  and  poor  Joe  before  us,  which  of  us 
dared  to  call  the  veriest  gamin  common  or  unclean  ? 

Thirty  years  ago  we  knew  a  wise,  pure,  high-toned  gen- 
tleman— a  minister  of  the  gospel — who  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  had  set  his  face  like  a  flint  against  fiction  in  all  its 
seductive  forms,  take  up  Oliver  Twist.  Young  as  we  were 
then  we  watched  him,  night  after  night,  poring  over  the 
social  wrongs  of  the  poor — saw  how  humid  grew  the  great 
brown  eyes,  that  always  had  for  us  a  fascination  outside  and 
beyond  the  love  we  bore  him — knew  from  the  drop  of  his 
head,  the  resting,  to  take  in  the  full  scope  of  the  pitiful 
tale,  that  it  was  the  truth  of  Charles  Dickens'  faithful  pen 
that  forced  him,  "  malgre  lui^''  to  pause  and  ponder  over 
wrongs  and  suffering  which  each  and  every  one  of  us  should 
strive  to  heal.  Little  child  as  the  writer  was,  she  neverthe- 
less took  up  the  volume  and  struggled  through  it  patiently, 
perseveringly,  and  when  it  was  laid  down,  carried  its  mem- 
ories with  her  into  the  silent  woods  or  by  the  swift-flowing 
river,  until  the  suffering  of  the  book  became  so  tangiijle, 
and  the  principles  of  duty  to  our  fellows  so  real,  that  from 
thenceforth  we  "did  what  we  could"  —  very,  very  little  it 
is  true — one  poor,  forlorn  talent  l)ringing  in  its  low  rate  of 
interest ;  but  under  Grod  that  interest  was  due  to  Charles 
Dickens.  The  pebble  cast  into  the  lake  spreads  ever  a  wid- 
ening circle,  and  the  first  fruits  of  the  efforts  resulting  from 
our  reading  Oliver  Twist  in  1840,  came  to  us  in  a  message 
from  a  poor  young  soldier,  dying  in  hospital  of  consump- 
tion, resulting  from  exposure  during  the  battles  of  1864: 


110  MES.    MOESE   STEWART. 

"  Tell    Mrs.    that   it's   Pat   whom    she   nursed 

through  the  measles  and  inflammation  of  the  lungs  twenty- 
four  years  ago,  and  he  wants  to  get  out  of  this  and  go  home 
to  his  mother  to  die ;  and  she'll  git  the  lave,  never  fear." 
He  was  indeed  the  earliest  patient  that  we  ever  had,  and 
whether  God  and  humanity  would  have  led  us  to  care  for 
him,  had  not  Charles  Dickens  pointed  the  way,  we  cannot 
sav. 

Since  then  book  after  book  of  his  master  mind  has  come 
from  the  press  only  to  strengthen  and  deepen  the  impres- 
sions of  our  childhood,  and  hold  us  the  more  steadily  to 
our  vows.  With  all  his  persistent  setting  forth  of  the 
misery  of  the  poor  and  downtrodden,  his  caustic  pen  never 
failed  to  point  Out  how  futile  was  all  philanthropic  effort 
without  the  balance-wheel  of  common  sense.  Mrs.  Jelleby 
stands  out  as  a  warning  to  all  women  possessed  of  a  mis- 
guided enthusiasm.  After  seeing  Mr.  Jelleby' s  head  laid 
so  pathetically  against  the  cold,  untidy  wall,  and  hearing 
Peepie  and  her  three  brothers  bump  their  way  down  those 
dirty  stairs,  and  taking  in  the  misery  of  that  poor,  neglected 
girl,  who  wrote  the  letters  of  invitation  to  the  Booriboo- 
lagali  sewing  circle,  what  mother  with  a  heart  in  her  bosom 
could  ever  be  "a  society  woman?"  Or,  emulate  the  exam- 
ple of  that  "I  turn  the  crank  of  the  universe"  female,  in 
Bleak  House,  who  brought  up  her  sons  to  "give  to  the 
missionaries"  in  a  manner  calculated  to  develop  in  those 
wretched  little  prigs  the  most  contemptible  form  of  purse- 
proud  egotism  and  self-righteousness.  No  one  so  heartily 
detested  shams  as  Charles  Dickens.  Selfishness  and  shams 
would  make  his  pen  fairly  dance  over  the  paper  with  con- 
tempt and  disgust.  We  often  wondered  that  his  clergymen 
were  such  wretched  caricatures,  and  why  he  never  painted 
"  a  genuine  minister  of  the  gospel,"  and  could  only  account 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  Ill 

for  it  upon  the  supposition  that  the  narrow  sects  and  secta- 
rian views  of  some  clergj'inen  alone  furnished  the  models 
from  which  his  too  faithful  pencil  drew. 

Mr.  Dickens,  we  doubt  not,  was  a  power  for  helpful  good 
to  his  fellow-creatures.  It  may  be  that  few  have  traced 
back  to  its  source  the  motive  force  that  has  actuated  and 
stimulated  their  benevolence  eitlier  in  the  active  work  of 
caring  for  the  poor  and  suffering,  or  the  more  passive  form 
of  contributing  money  that  others  might  extend  their  mer- 
ciful ministrations  over  a  wider  field  ;  but  in  our  own  case, 
and  we  doubt  not  we  represent  that  of  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  others,  it  was  Mr.  Dickens'  genuine  love 
for  humanity  which  so  intensified  and  ennobled  his  genius. 

In  Mr.  Dickens'  death  the  poor  have  lost  a  friend,  the 
oppressed  a  faithful  defender ;  the  struggling  and  laborious 
workman,  an  artist  whose  picture  gave  always  a  glow  of 
honor  to  those  unsung  martyrs ;  the  felon  or  the  spend- 
thrift, a  forgiving  and  merciful  creditor  ;  tlie  present  gen- 
eration, a  "  preacher  who  led  them  with  goads  and  with 
nails;"  all  suffering  humanity  an  advocate;  all  loving, 
single-minded  souls,  with  self-abnegation  enough  to  devote 
their  lives  to  some  tiny  cripple  or  aged  parent,  a  champion. 

He  was  the  intellectual  Quixotte  of  this  or  any  age.  God 
grant  that  the  English  tongue  maj'  never  lose  this  record  of 
how  poor  dying  Joe  followed,  word  after  word,  of  his 
friend's  "'Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven'  —  'Is  the 
light  a  comin',  sir  ? '  '  It  is  close  at  hand '  —  '  Hallowed  be 
Thy  name '  —  '  Hallowed  be  Thy ' .     • 

"  The  light  is  come  upon  the  dark  benighted  way — Dead. 

"  Dead,  your  majesty.  Dead,  my  lord  and  gentleman. 
Dead,  Kight  Reverends  and  Wrong  Reverends  of  every 
order.  Dead,  men  and  women,  born  with  heavenly  com- 
passion in  your  hearts,  and  dying  thus  around  us  kvery 

DAY." 


112  MRS.    MORSE  STEWART. 


The  following  correspondence  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Association,  taken  from 
a  paper  prepared  by  Mrs.  Stewart  for  the  April  number  of  the  Messenger,  1888,  is 
reproduced,  for  the  word-painting  so  characteristic  of  her  writings,  as  well  as  the 
touching  pathos  of  the  story  it  unfolds  : 

A  LONELY  OLD  MAN. 

Women's  Christian  Association  Letters. 

Detroit,  October  18,  1884. 

Dear  Mrs.  A :  *  *  *  All  our  preparations  are 

made  for  going  South.  It  has  seemed  to  me  the  way  the  Lord  has 
opened  for  us,  but  I  am  very  sorry  to  leave  poor  old  Mr.  C.  He  is  a 
lone  old  gentleman  who  some  years  ago  lost  his  fortune  in  Kansas  City. 
He  came  to  me  as  a  boarder  five  years  ago,  but  of  late  years  has  paid 
little,  if  anything.     I  do  not  know  how  he  will  get  on  without  us.     I  am 

aware,  dear  Mrs. ,  that  your  hands  are  very  full,  but  sometimes, 

perhaps,  you  can  look  after  him  a  little,  for  he  is  "one  of  God's  little 
ones."  ^-  P- 

To  Mrs.  E.  P.:  November  1,  1884. 

It's  a  comfort  to  believe  poor  old  Mr.  C.  is  one  of  God's  little  ones, 
for  that  insures  his  being  taken  care  of— but,  not  by  me.  A  host  of  neg- 
lected duties  warn  me  that,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  Mr.  C.  must  be  "  a 
lost  opportunity."  B.  S. 

To  Mrs.  B.  S. :  December  3d,  1884. 

Dear  Friend— I  went  to  see  how  old  Mr.  C.  was  doing.  It's  bad 
enough.  Don't  you  know  some  one  near  See  street  who  could  send  him 
a  dinner  occasionally  ?  Mary  D. 

Mrs.  B.  S.  to  Mrs.  K.  B.,  74  See  Street: 

I  know,  dear  Mrs.  B.,  that  you  will  waive  ceremony— a  call,  and  all 
that— and  let  me  ask  you  by  postal  to  pay  a  little  visit  to  old  Mr.  F.  C, 
who  lives  across  the  square  from  you,  and  send  him  a  meal  now  and 
again.     Mrs.  D.  will  show  you  the  place.  B.  S. 

To  Mrs.  B.  S.:  Detroit,  March  3,  1885. 

Dear  Friend — Old  Mr.  C.  went  out  to-day  and  fell  down  in  a  fit,  and 
they  brought  him  to  my  house.  Now,  I  am  "the  Widow  D.,"  and  I 
won't  have  any  policemen  bringing  a  man  in  a  fit  to  my  house.  Do 
please  come  over  and  do  something  about  it,  for  he  is  here  yet. 

Mary  D. 


Miscellaneous  wkitings.  113 

To  Mrs.  B.  S.:  March  4.  1885. 

Dear  Friend — After  what  you  said  to  the  police  they  took  Mr.  C.  to 
St.  Mary's.     I  have  been  to  see  him.     He  is  in  a  very  bad  way. 

Mary  D. 

To  Mrs.  B.  S.:  Detroit,  April  1,  1885. 

Dear  Friend — The  poormaster  says  he  cannot  keep  Mr.  C.  any 
longer  at  the  hospital ;  he  must  be  sent  to  the  County  House.  Sorry  you 
are  not  at  home ;  have  left  you  a  pile  of  old  letters  we  found  in  his 
trunk.  Now  you  write  a  letter  to  every  one  of  them  ;  maybe  some  one 
of  them  will  help  him.  Mary  D. 

Mrs.  B.  S.  to  Mrs.  Mary  D.: 

Dear  Sister  D. — I  wrote  fifteen  letters — telling  the  old  gentleman's 
story  fifteen  times  (nothing  monotonous  in  that);  the  seven  hours  had  all 
the  inspiration  of  a  crazy  quilt ;  his  youngest  epistle  was  ten  years  old  I 
Think  of  drawing  a  bow  at  a  venture  and  shooting  fifteen  venturesome 
arrows  into  the  postoffice.     Now  do  not  ask  me  to  do  another  thing. 

B.  S. 

Sister  D. — Those  everlasting  letters  have  been  coming  back  with 
"  No  such  person,"  "  Dead,"  "  Gone,"  "  Uncalled  for  "  on  them,  until  I 
am  ashamed  to  meet  the  po.stman,  who  looks  at  me  as  if  I  were  on  the 
verge  of  lunacy.  I  have  worked  1  now  you  pray  (!!)  that  something 
may  happen.  I  had  no  idea  that  fifteen  were  so  many  ;  two  precincts 
yet  to  hear  from.  B.  S. 

April  28,  1885. 
Dear  Sister  D. — Eureka  !  One  letter  struck  a  cousin  ;  a  good 
man,  too.  Here  is  his  answer,  which  is  business  like  to  the  last  degree. 
All  the  same  I  have  thanked  God  for  it,  for  I  did  not  deserve  this  much. 
Now  he  must  have  a  treasurer  ;  I  think  Mrs.  K.  will  undertake  to  look 
after  his  accounts  and  money.  B.  S. 

Mrs.  B.  S.:  Boston,  April  25,  1885. 

Madam — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  23d  instant  would  say,  that 
Mr.  C.  left  this  city  42  years  ago  and  has  been  here  but  once  since,  and 
that  was  many  years  ago. 

He  has  neither  brother  nor  sister  living.  Will  you  kindly  inform  me 
if  any  provision  can  be  made  for  him,  where  he  can  be  made  comfort- 
able, in  some  institution  in  your  city,  and  the  expense  per  week,  and 
oblige  Yours  respectfully,  M.  C.  W.,  Boston. 


114  MRS.   MORSE    STEWART. 

Mrs.  B.  8.:  Boston,  May  6,  1885. 

Madam — Yours  of  the  2d  inst.  is  received,  and  in  reply  would  ask  if 
you  will  kindly  make  such  provision  for  Mr.  C.  at  the  St.  Luke's  Hos- 
pital and  Home,  or  elsewhere,  as  you  may  be  able,  and  for  the  present  I 
will  pay  his  board.  I  enclose  draft  on  New  York,  payable  to  your 
order,  for  ($50)  fifty  dollars,  and  when  this  is  expended  please  notify  me. 
In  the  meantime,  if  you  will  please  ascertain  what  the  expense  will  be  for 
a  life  membership  in  the  Home,  and  notify  me,  I  shall  feel  obliged,  and 
shall  be  guided  largely  by  what  you  may  advise  regarding  future  action. 
Should  you  receive  any  response  from  parties  to  whom  you  have  written 
in  New  York,  please  accept  whatever   they  may  be  disposed  to  send. 

Regarding  your  inquiry,  would  say  that  the  last  time  I  saw  Mr.  C 

was  some  thirty  years  ago  or  more,  when  he  was  passing  through  this 
city.  Yours  Respectfully, 

M.  C.  W. 

Mr.  M.  G.  W.,  Boston,  Mass.:  Detroit,  May  11,  1885. 

Deak  Sir — At  last  we  have  found  a  poor  widow — a  good  woman — 
who  will  take  care  of  Mr.  C.  His  troubles  seem  to  overwhelm  him  at 
times,  and  then  he  growls  demented.  He  falls  down  in  the  street,  and  a 
policeman  takes  him  in  hand  and  does  not  know  what  to  do  with  him. 
There  is  no  mistaking  his  being  a  gentleman  (we  keep  him  respectably 
clothed);  he  "  does  not  drink,"  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  and  so  he  is  an  anomaly 
at  the  Central  Station.  I  am  waiting  to  get  some  answers  to  my  applica- 
tion to  St.  Luke's  and  Harper  Hospitals.  Thanks  for  the  cash  enclos- 
ure ;  that  simplifies  the  difficulty  somewhat.  We  know  nothing  of  his 
history.  Mrs.  P.,  with  whom  he  lived  five  years,  said  he  was  "one  of 
God's  little  ones ; "  this,  together  with  my  own  conscience,  and  an 
importunate  fellow  worker's  keeping  it  awake,  makes  me  in  earnest  to  do 
what  I  can.  B.  S. 

Mrs.  B.  8.:  Boston,  May  19,  1885. 

Dear  Madam— Replying  to  your  letter  of  the  11th  instant,  would 
say,  in  reference  to  Mr.  C,  that  when  he  was  a  resident  of  this  city  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Baldwin  Place  Baptist  Church  and  a  teacher  in  the 
Sabbath  School.  He  was  intelligent,  reliable,  virtuous,  and  of  a  most 
amiable  disposition.  While  a  clerk  in  the  dry  goods  business  was  very 
popular,  and  his  popularity  continued  when  engaged  in  business  for  him- 
self. His  uncles  furnished  him  with  capital,  and  after  a  few  years  he 
failed,  but  not  on  account  of  large  personal  expenses  or  of  inattention  to 


MISCELLANEOUS    WRITINGS.  115 

business,  as  never  did  any  man  apply  himself  more  closely  than  did  he  to 
his  business.  He  left  the  city  unexpectedly,  and,  it  being  learned  that 
he  was  in  Chicago,  his  creditors  sent  a  friend  of  his  there  to  try  and  pre- 
vail on  him  to  return,  and  he  was  offered  by  them  a  position  as  clerk 
"  at  a  good  salary"  in  two  or  three  first-class  houses.  But  his  inability 
to  pay  the  creditors  (who  had  been  so  kind  to  him)  affected  him  so  that 
he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  return.  After  a  few  years  he  established 
himself  in  business  in  K City,  and  I  have  been  informed  was  as  pop- 
ular with  the  people  there  as  here,  and  did  a  large  business  ;  but  in  the 
days  of  the  rebellion  (he  was  a  Union  man),  having  an  extensive  trade 

and  many  creditors  outside  of  K City  "in  Rebeldom,"  who  would 

not  pay,  he  was  again  obliged  to  fail,  and  left  there  as  he  had  previously 
left  here. 

Perhaps  he  may  at  times  have  been  injudicious  in  his  methods  of 
business,  but  he  was  scrupulously  honest,  and  confided  in  every  one, 
and  this  latter  quality  may  in  a  measure  account  for  his  want  of  success 
as  a  business  man,  and  when  disaster  reached  him  he  had  not  sufficient 
moral  courage  to  face  his  creditors,  and  so  left  them,  as  stated  above. 
Since,  he  has  clerked  it  at  Red  Wing  and  Cincinnati,  and  then  we  heard 
that  he  was  in  Detroit.  He  has  always  been  a  single  man.  When  in 
K City  he.  had  an  opportunity  to  marry  into  a  family  of  consider- 
able wealth,  but  fear  of  embarrassment  and  consequent  inability  to  sup- 
port a  wife  in  comfort  prevented  him. 

Mr.  C.'s  relations  are  mostly  dead,  having  only  a  few  cousins  left. 
His  age  must  be  about  68. 

Referring  to  remittance  to  you,  would  say  that  your  letters  and 
interest  manifested  are  sufficient  warrant  to  any  business  man  that  it 
could  not  be  in  better  hands  than  your  own. 

I  would  gratefully  acknowledge  your  kindness,  and  that  of  your 
associates,  and  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  the  interest  you  have  mani- 
fested and  the  efforts  you  have  made  in  behalf  of  a  poor  stranger. 

What  would  poor,  suffering  humanity  do  if  it  was  not  for  woman  V 
Our  Lord,  while  on  earth,  honored  woman  above  others,  and  I  some- 
times think,  if  there  is  any  distinction  made  in  heaven,  woman  should 
have  the  most  exalted  seat,  as  the  sweetest  of  singers  among  the  angelic 
host. 

When  I  learn  the  cost  of  a  life  support  from  Mr.  Eaton,  I  will  write 
to  parties  in  New  York  and  see  what  they  will  do. 

Once  more  expressing  my  thanks  for  your  kindness,  I  remain 

Yours  respectfully,  M.  C.  W. 


116  .  MKS.    MORS£    STEWART. 

Mrs.  B.  S.  to  Mr.  M.  G.  W.,  Boston,  Mass.  :  May  30,  1885. 

Dear  Sir—  *  *  *  Pardon  the  long  delay  in  answer- 
ing your  letter.  Detroit  has  no  old  man's  home  ;  the  State  of  Michigan 
has  none.  St.  Luke's  Hospital  will  agree  to  take  him  for  $500,  but  they 
reserve  to  themselves  the  right  to  return  him  to  us  with  that  sum  of 
money  intact  should  he  prove  a  troublesome  patient.  Harper  Hospital 
will  bind  themselves  to  care  for  him  for  life  if  you  pay  $1,000  in 
advance.     Mr.  C.  cries  and  moans,  and  resists  an  institution.     Shall  we 


go  on  V 


B.  S. 


Mrs.  B.  8.  :  •  New  York,  June  1,  1885. 

Madam— I  am  in  receipt  of  your  favor  of  April  23d,  forwarded  me 
by  Mr.  M.  C.  W.,  of  Boston.  In  regard  to  Mr.  F.  C,  I  am  unable  to 
advise  what  to  do  in  his  case,  and  have  returned  your  letters  to  Boston. 
M.  C.  W.  and  H.  H.  are  first  cousins,  while  I  am  a  distant  relative.  I 
think  they  will  interest  themselves  in  this  matter.  I  have  for  years  ren- 
dered assistance  to  Mr.  C.  At  present,  claims  from  those  nearer  me  are 
so  pressing  I  am  unable  to  do  what  I  could  wish.     Inclosed  find  my 

check  for  fifty  dollars. 

Respectfully  yours, 

M.  C.  W. 

Mrs.  B.  8. :  Boston,  June  4,  1885. 

Dear  Madam — Since  receiving  your  last  letter  I  have  written  to  New 
York,  also  sent  your  letters,  and  have  also  seen  Mr.  H.  H.  To  the  latter 
I  gave  your  letters,  and  have  received  encouragement  that  he  would  do 
something  for  Mr.  C.  I  should  advise,  however,  that  you  do  not  write 
to  him  for  the  present.  I  received  a  letter  yesterday  from  ]\Ir.  Morton 
C.  W.,  of  New  York,  in  which  he  stated  that  himself  and  brother 
Dorman  had  forwarded  to  you  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars. 

At  present  it  seems  impossible  to  raise  the  amount  required  by  the 
Harper  Hospital,  and  although  I  regret  placing  so  much  care  on  your- 
self and  your  associates,  if  you  can  make  permanent  arrangements  for 
one  year,  on  terms  that  are  satisfactory  to  yourself,  I  will  raise  or  per- 
sonally pay  the  amount  necessary  for  his  care  for  that  time. 

Replying  to  your  correspondent,  would  say  that  Mr.  C.  has  no  living 
relations  on  his  father's  side,  to  my  knowledge. 

Yours  respectfully, 

M.  C.  W. 

P.  S.— There  are  but  few  of  the  C.'s  that  are  able  or  willing  to  assist 
him  at  this  time.  M.  C.  W. 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  117 

To  Mrs.  B.  S.  :  October  5,  1885. 

Dear  Friend — I  send  you  Mr.  C.'s  account,  with  vouchers.  I  must 
say  I  dread  the  winter  for  him.  You  say  Dr. expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  the  extreme  weather  we  have  through  Januar\-  and  February 
increases  his  malady.  Now  the  P.'s  have  gone  to  St.  Augustine,  where 
they  have  a  comfortable  cottage,  and  as  tbeir  daughter  May  is  going 
back  to  them  in  November,  do  you  not  think  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to 
send  Mr.  C.  on  to  them?  They  are  willing  to  take  him,  and  the  expense 
of  the  journey  can  be  managed  for  thirty  dollars.  Could  you  not  write 
and  ask  Mr.  M.  C.  W.  what  he  thinks  about  it?  K.  B. 

Mrs.  B.  S.  to  Mrs.  K.  B. :  Detroit,  October  19,  1885. 

Well,  my  dear,  here  is  your  answer.  It  is  reasonable  enough.  What 
next?  B.  S. 

Mrs.  B.  S.  :  Boston,  October  16,  1885. 

Dear  Madam — Replying  to  yours  of  the  12th  instant,  I  inclose  draft 
on  New  York  for  ($100)  one  hundred  dollars  (on  the  Fourth  National 
Bank),  payable  to  your  order,  and  which  amount  you  will  please  apply 
toward  the  support  and  care  of  Mr.  C.     Of  the  above  amoimt  I  expect  to 

receive  (|25)  twenty -five  dollars  only  from  Mr. on  his  return  from 

Maine,  and  that  amount,  he  says,  is  all  he  will  contribute,  either  now  or 
hereafter.  The  cousins  in  New  York  think  that  they  have  all  they  can 
attend  to  among  their  own  families,  and  there  are  none  other  of  bis  rel- 
atives who  are  able  or  willing  to  contribute  a  penny.  I  am  willing  to  do 
what  I  can  (as  I  have  before  written  you)  for  ]\Ir.  C,  but  wish  his 
expenses  to  be  kept  as  small  as  possible,  and  in  this  connection  let  me 
say  that  I  am  not  willing  to  pay  the  expenses  of  Mr.  C.'s  passage  to 
Florida.  I  think  the  sum  named  by  you  ($30)  can  be  better  expended; 
and  would,  indeed,  be  quite  a  help  toward  supporting  him  if  he  remains 
in  Detroit. 

He  could  not  be  admitted  to  the  "  Old  Man's  Home,"  in  this  city,  as 
the  laws  regarding  this  institution  require  a  residence  of  ten  years  next 
preceding  the  application  for  admission,  within  the  State  or  city. 

Yourself  and  associates  have  been  very  kind  in  doing  as  you  have  for 
an  entire  stranger,  but  I  feel  I  must  tre.spass  still  further  on  your  kind- 
ness, and  request  that  you  will  try  and  secure  some  good  place  in  your 
city  where  Mr.  C.  can  be  cared  for  at  a  reasonable  expense,  a.s  heretofore. 

Yours  respectfully, 

M.  C.  W. 


118  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

To  Mrs.  B.  S.  : 

Dear  Friend — I  am  sure,  in  spite  of  Mr.  M.  C.  W.'s  letter,  that  St. 
Augustine,  with  the  P.'s,  is  the  right  place  for  Mr  C,  and  I  will  under- 
take to  raise  the  $30.     What  do  you  say?  K.  "B. 

To  Mrs.  K.  B.  :  Detroit,  Nov.  12,  1885. 

All  right,  my  dear.  If  you  "see  your  duty  a  dead  sure  thing,"  we 
will  do  it,  for  I  know  Mr.  M.  C.  W.  will  agree  with  us  afterwards. 

B.  S. 

To  Mrs.  B.  S.  :  December  8,  1885. 

After  getting  their  tickets  (M paid  for  hers,  but  because  of  her 

care  of  our  old  gentleman  I  got  both  at  half  rates),  and  providing  them  a 
long  lunch  for  their  three  days'  journey,  the  old  and  young  set  off 
together.  Rev.  Dr.  Henderson  brought  me  from  his  church  five  dollars 
towards  his  journey.  You  know  Mr.  C.  is  a  Baptist,  and  I  felt  at  liberty 
to  ask  their  assistance.  A  letter  from  May  reports  them  safe  at  home  at 
St.  Augustine.  She  said  Mr.  C.  made  friends  all  along  the  way,  and 
was  like  a  timid  child.  I  am  glad  we  sent  him.  The  P.'s  have  always 
been  kind  to  him,  and  I  am  sure  they  will  be  now.  I  pay  just  the  same 
board  for  him  there  that  I  did  here,  and  send  it  every  mouth. 

K.  B. 

P.  S.— He  had  a  good  outfit  of  clothes — new  underwear,  etc. — and  I 
would  have  put  more  than  a  couple  of  dollars  into  his  purse  if  I  had  not 
been  afraid  he  would  spend  it  on  patent  medicines,  and  make  himself  as 
ill  with  them  as  he  did  before.  *         *         *  *         *         * 

Here  the  compiler  says  : 

A  file  of  Southern  letters  has  been  mislaid,  but  as  they  only  told  how  our  old 
gentleman  enjoyed  the  quaint  city,  of  how  good  every  one  was  to  him  in  his  walks, 
of  a  queer  old  "  Mrs.  Nickelby  "  kind  of  widow,  who  nearly,  if  not  quite,  proposed 
to  marry  him  "because  she  was  so  lonesome"  and  "he  was  such  a  gentleman," 
and  "  real  gentlemen  were  scarce,"  etc.,  etc.,  their  omission  is  of  little  moment.  In 
1886  he  had  a  retux-n  of  his  head  trouble  and  grew  very  odd  in  his  ways,  but  the  P.'s 
humored  him  as  much  as  possible. 

Letters  from  Mr.  M.  C.  W.  came  two  or  three  times  a  year,  with  remittances,  and 
kind  and  pleasant  words  of  thankfulness  to  us. 

September  20,  1887,  Mr.  C.  had  a  low  fever  set  in,  of  which  we  notified  Mr.  M.  C. 
"W.,  and  received  the  following  reply: 

Mrs.  B.  8. :  Boston,  October  1,  1887. 

Dear  Madam — Yours  of  the  21st  ultimo  was  received  in  due  time, 
and  in  reply  I  can  only  repeat  what  I  have  so  often  written  before,  viz., 


MISCELLANEOUS   WRITINGS.  119 

ray  tbauks  to  you  and  your  kind  and  faithful  friends  for  the  care  shown 
Mr.  C.  in  all  the  time  he  has  been  in  your  charge.  I  know  that 
you  have  not  done  it  for,  or  in  the  hope  of  reward,  but  I  am  equally 
sure  that  He  who  seeth  all  things,  and  understandeth  all  things,  will,  in 
His  own  good  time,  give  you  the  reward  that  is  reserved  for  the  faithful. 

You  speak,  or  rather  Miss  Peckham  speaks,  of  having  engaged  a 
young  girl  to  help  her  in  the  care  of  Mr.  C,  and  in  this  connection 
I  would  suggest  that  all  reasonable  expenses  of  this  kind  be  charged 
in  my  account,  when  rendered. 

Mr.  H.  died  on  August  9th,  and  I  have  secured  a  slip  from  the 
Boston  Herald  of  the  10th,  which  I  inclose,  thinking  it  may  interest  you. 
I  return  the  letter  of  Miss  P.,  and,  thanking  you  for  the  information 

I  remain 

Yours  respectfully, 

M.  C.  W. 

Mr.  C.'s  illness  terminated  on  October  12, 1887,  in  his  release  from  sufEering,  and 
a  happy  entrance  into  the  celestial  city  whose  inhabitants  never  more  say,  "  I  am 
sick." 

One  of  his  kindest  friends  was  a  medical  gentleman,  whose  service  was  "  as  unto 
the  Lord." 

From  Miss  M.  P.  to  Mrs.  B.  8.  : 

Dear  Mrs.  S. — It  is  a  hard  thing  to  see  even  a  good  old  man  die, 

and  I  felt  too  worn  out  to  write  you  much  about  Mr.  C.  at  the  time. 

We  are  such  strangers,  as  yet,  in  St.  Augustine,  and  mother  and  father 

being  Xorth,  I  was  very  thankful  to  Dr.  ,  who  has  been  his  friend, 

as  well  as  physician,  for  saying  to  the  undertaker  that  he  would  see  his 

bill    paid;  and   settled  the  account  last  week.     Did  I  tell  you  that 

Dr.  is  a  very  strong  Roman  Catholic?    When   I   received   your 

letter  inclosing  the  draft  from  Mr.  M.  C.  W.,  and  his  beautiful  letter, 

Dr. read  it  over  and  over,  and  then  laid  it  down,  saying:  "Now, 

that  man  is  a  Christian,  and  acts  like  one.     Wlien  I  go  to  Bo.ston,  ne.xt 

spring,  I  will  call  on  him  and  tell  him  so."    It  was  very  kind  in  him  to 

send  me  such  a  gift.     Will  you  say  to  him  I  am  very  grateful.     The 

house  seems  very  empty  without  Mr.  C,  my  old  child. 

May  p. 

the  last  epistle. 
Mr.  M.  C.  W.  :  December  18,  1887. 

My  Dear  Sir — Inclosed  please  find  receipts  and  vouchers  for  Mr. 
C.'s  medicines  and  funeral  ciiarges.  llis  doctor  gave  liis  services  free 
and   freely.     The  balance  of  the  draft  was  presented  to  Miss  P.,  in 


120  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

accordance  with  your  desire,  and  so  this  letter  will  be  the  last  I  shall 
address  you.  Mrs.  K.  B.'s  accounts  show  that  we  have  disbursed  a  trifle 
over  |4o0  of  your  money.  I  was  sorry  Mr.  H.'s  heart  did  not  go  out  to 
his  old  kinsman.     Ere  this  they  may  have  met. 

After  two  years  and  a  half  of  such  pleasant  correspondence  I  am 
reluctant  to  say  good  bye.  We  have  never  seen  your  face  or  heard  your 
voice,  and  we  might  pass  each  other  unwittingly  in  a  Boston  street,  as 
folk  who  had  nothing  in  common,  but  I  am  very  sure  when  we  stand  in 
the  presence  of  the  King,  where  we  know  as  we  are  known,  I  shall  rec- 
ognize "  the  old  man's  friend." 

Yours,  B.  S. 


J 


TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


1 


^rip  to  OTaliforma. 


A  LADY'S  DIARY. 

April  23,  1873. 

My  whole  winter  has  been  so  full  of  sickness  and  sorrow, 
pain  and  death,  that  I  have  at  last  made  up  my  mind  to 
break  away  from  the  cares  that  here  beset  me  (until  body, 
mind  and  heart  have  got  into  a  rut  that  is  neither  comfort- 
able nor  profitable),  and  hie  me  to  that  Golden  Land  that 
for  twenty  years  has  been  so  full  of  promise  and  adventure 
to  hundreds  and  thousands  of  imaginations  besides  my  own. 
But  how  to  go  alone  is  the  grand  and  anxious  question  just 
now — for  if  I  take  my  only  natural  protector,  I  carry  the 
saddening  assurance  that  five  children  will  be  left  "j9ro 
^em."  fatherless  as  well  as  motherless.  Then  it  is  dread- 
fully unconventional  for  a  woman  to  set  off  in  this  sort  of 
fashion  ;  but  Bessie  K.  is  wild  to  go  and  see  her  father  and 
brother  in  San  Francisco,  and  she  says  we  can  protect  one 
another,  so  to-morrow  I  am  off,  April  23. — To-day  Mr.  D., 
a  brother  in  fact  as  well  as  in  law,  says  if  I  will  wait  a  week 
he  will  go  with  me  ;  but  Bessie's  heart  is  broken  (and  my 
trunk  packed),  our  "  sections  "  are  secured,  and  one's  hand 
is  laid  to  the  plow.  Wx.  D.  may  as  well  meet  us  a  week 
hence  in  San  Francisco.  Two  women  knight  errants  need 
not  the  admonition  of  Hamlet,  "  Stand  not  upon  the  order 
of  your  going,  but  go  at  once."  Therefore  we  start  to-night, 
via  the  Michigan  Central.  April  24. — Yesterday  evening, 
when  we  had  got  all  our  hand  baggage  (and  it  is  unlimited) 


14 


122  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

in  good  order  in  the  Pullman,  we  found  our  opposite  neigh- 
bor was  our  dear  old  friend  Fannie  E.,  on  her  way  alone  to 
see  and  care  for  the  ill  and  possibly  dying  child  of  Bishop 
A.,  of  Milwaukee.  Of  course  she  was  delighted  to  meet  and 
join  us,  thus  relieving  us  of  a  certain  sense  of  loneliness  and 
desolation.  At  the  depot  young  Mr.  H,  met  and  took  us 
to  the  Tremont  House  for  breakfast,  after  whicli  meal  we 
had  two  or  three  hours  to  spare  in  driving  about  Chicago, 
seeing  the  desolation  that  had  overtaken  it,  and  realizing 
how  powerless  was  man  before  the  devastating  force  of  any 
one  of  God's  elements  ;  seeing,  too,  that  (Phoenix-like)  the 
city  was  again  rising  from  her  ashes.  At  10  a.  m.  we  saw 
Fannie  safely  started  for  her  short  trip,  aiid  at  10.30  found 
ourselves  comfortably  settled  in  our  sections.  The  con- 
ductor and  porter  were  helpful,  and  both  desirous  and 
capable  of  aiding  us  on  our  way.  We  are  to  reach  Omaha 
in  twenty-four  hours.  Our  passengers  are  a  motlej^  collec- 
tion, one  old  gentleman  from  Los  Angeles  ;  an  Irish  M.  D., 
who  has  "  been  home  to  the  old  country  to  get  possession  of 
a  fortune "  (and  forty  canes),  whom  we  have  dubbed  Dr. 
Shillaly,  and  two  Englishmen  sitting  behind  us ;  one  looks 
intelligent  and  agreeable,  the  other  is  too  English  for  any- 
thing. I  am  afraid  to  speak  to  strangers,  it  is  not  safe,  though 
there  is  a  pleasant  looking  man  near  us  that  I  shall  apply  to 
if  I  need  assistance,  for  his  is  an  unmistakably  good  face. 
I  unlocked  the  wrong  hand  satchel  to-day,  and  plunged  into 
an  elaborate  dressing  case  and  unlimited  cigars.  Bessie 
says  that  it  belongs  to  the  Englishman.  I  felt  like  a  thief, 
and  have  looked  out  at  Southern  Illinois  with  great  interest 
ever  since  (though  there  was  very  little  to  see).  The  win- 
dows are  open,  and  the  air  balmy  and  delicious.  April 
25.— Slept  after  a  fashion,  and  dressed  at  a  disadvantage 
that  no  person  half  an  inch  shorter  than  I  can  ever  appreci- 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  123 

ate.  Not  being  gregarious  in  my  tastes  and  habits,  the  little 
wash  I  indulged  in  has  been  very  unsatisfactory,  but  wliat 
can  one  do  when  there  are  a  dozen  round-eyed  men  on  tlie 
alert  in  one's  vicinity?  Dr.  Sliillaly  stood  guard,  and 
escorted  us  to  the  dining  room  car.  I  heard  the  pleasant 
faced  man  sa}'  that  the  Presbyterian  minister  at  Salt  Lake 
was  his  intimate  friend.  Bessie  and  he  have  had  a  common 
or  uncommon  meeting  ground,  for  a  poor  unfortunate 
woman  stumbled  over  the  Englishman's  hat  box  and  lost 
her  balance  and  back  hair  (she  just  missed  breaking  her 
neck).  Bessie  and  the  Presbyterian  (I  am  sure  he  is  a  Pres- 
byterian, his  face  shows  it)  rushed  to  tlie  rescue,  and  tliere 
was  quite  a  little  excitement ;  the  Johns  Bull,  or  John 
Bulls,  ignored  the  scene  entirely.  We  reach  Council  Bluffs 
at  11  A.  M.,  and  there  change  cars  to  cross  the  Mississippi 
river.  4  p.  m. — What  a  nuisance  this  crossing  and  changing 
cars  is  ;  everything  is  as  disagreeable  as  possible  ;  the  train 
that  Ave  were  obliged  to  enter  was  full  to  overflowing,  and 
but  for  Dr.  Shillaly  we  would  have  been  obliged  to  stand  up 
for  an  hour  and  a  half.  Tom  (our  Pullman  porter),  the 
Irish  M.  D.,  and  the  Presbyterian,  saw  us  bag  and  baggage 
safe  into  the  Omaha  depot,  and  on  board,  and  established  in 
the  nicest  Pullman  I  ever  saw,  where  there  were  sofas,  and 
easy  chairs,  and  ottomans,  and  comfort,  together  with  a  car 
full  of  agreeable,  intelligent  looking  people.  I  went  out 
and  made  my  wsiy  through  the  waiting  rooms  and  lunch 
room  of  the  depot;  it  is  quite  wondei'ful  to  see  the  emi- 
grants (the  children  absolutely  swarm,  and  their  shrieks 
were  something  indescribable);  every  one  seemed  good-tem- 
pered and  hopeful.  Poor  souls,  what  they  suffer  for  a 
home  where  "  they  will  be  de  lords  of  de  soil,"  as  Dr.  Van 
llaalte  used  to  say.  In  the  lunch  room  tliere  is  no  end  of 
cooked  provisions — cold  roast,  chickens,  boiled  ham,  legs  of 


12i  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

mutton,  and  miles  of  bologna  sausages.  I  saw  a  German 
man  marching  off  with  a  two-hushel  basket  full  of  that  kind 
of  edibles  and  bread.  I  could  have  spent  hours  watching 
this  curious,  motley  throng,  but  our  baggage  is  all  weighed 
at  this  point,  and  a  charge  of  fifteen  cents  for  every  pound 
over  one  hundred  is  made.  For  some  reason  my  trunk  was 
passed  without  weighing,  but  when  it  came  to  Bessie's  two 
a  man  shouted  "  scale,"  and  that  instrument  developed  the 
fact  that  the  gun  she  was  taking  to  her  brother  would  cost 
her  twelve  dollars  and  more.  In  this  room,  also,  one  could 
study  human  nature  profitably,  if  they  were  not  obliged  to 
go  to  the  other  end  of  the  building  to  get  their  ''  receipts 
for  extra  weight"  before  they  check.  April  26. — How 
curious  the  life  of  the  car  is,  and  what  a  change  the  fact 
we  are  "in"  for  four  days  of  each  other's  society  does 
make  ;  every  one  begins  to  converse  with  his  or  her  neigh- 
bor. There  are  but  few  ladies  on  this  car,  and  the  gentle- 
men go  about  and  make  calls  on  them  twice  a  day,  till  it 
is  like  a  New  Year's  day.  One  shrewd,  pleasant,  plain  old 
man,  who  told  me  he  was  Mr.  M.,  of  Salt  Lake  City, 
called  to-day.  Whether  my  face  expressed  the  little  chill 
I  felt  at  this  announcement,  I  cannot  say,  but  he  took 
pains  to  notify  me  that  he  was  anything  but  a  Mormon  ;  in 
fact  I  had  a  long  and  very  agreeable  conversation  with  him 
on  the  subject  of  that  disreputable  people.  He  says  some, 
indeed  many,  are  honest,  fair  dealing  men,  who  believe  in 
their  religion  ;  but  there  is  a  large  leaven  amongst  them  of 
dishonest  over-reaching,  that  in  times  past  has  led  to  theft 
and  murder.  The  influx  of  "  good  people  from  the  States  " 
is  making  a  great  change,  and  is  a  visible  restraint.  As  to 
the  women,  they  are  just  as  sincere  in  their  faith  and  prac- 
tice as  it  is  possible  for  women  to  be ;  they  are  good, 
respectable,  patient  creatures,  who  dare  not  call  their  souls 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  125 

their  own  (as  a  fractional  husband  is  responsible  for  that) ; 
they  are  broken-spirited,  hard-working,  well-behaved  mor- 
tals, deserving  of  the  sympathy  of  every  happier  woman 
than  themselves.  In  the  judgment  of  Mr.  M.,  "  Folks  that 
are  pestered  with  a  sour  godliness  have  no  call  to  come  to 
Utah ; "  the  Mormons  must  see  the  sweet  and  comforting 
side  of  one's  faith  in  Christ  alone,  before  they  can  be  won 
to  consider  anything  but  the  word  and  counsels  of  their  own 
apostles  and  bishops.  "  Ah,"  said  he,  "  Mrs.  S.,  there  are 
just  two  things  that  will  ever  uproot  Mormonism — one  is 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  other  is  the  love  of  dress.  If  you 
have  a  dress  with  six  skirts,  wear  it  in  Salt  Lake  City  ;  put 
on  all  the  finery  that  you  can,  but  make  yourself  look  genu- 
inely tasty  ;  let  your  silks  drag,  and  your  ruffles  flirt,  and 
your  feathers  and  flowers  flutter,  and  j^our  ribbons  fly ; 
some  woman  who  is  one  of  seven  wives  will  make  it  her 
business  to  get  up  just  such  a  turn-out,  cost  what  it  may. 
She  will  coax  and  tease,  and  get  the  dress  at  any  price,  and 
then,  you  know  how  it  is  yourself  ;  every  woman  has  got  to 
have  something  just  as  near  like  it  as  she  can  rake  and 
scrape,  and  so  it  will  go,  for  the  discontent  and  the  jealousy 
must  be  satisfied  in  some  way ;  and  so  you  will  do  more 
towards  breaking  up  a  miserable  system  than  if  you  preached 
a  thousand  sermons.  Tell  all  your  friends  to  wear  all  their 
best  clothes,  and  look  as  fine  and  happy  as  they  can."  This 
struck  me  as  being  shrewd  common  sense,  and  I  grieved 
that  tlie  only  ruflled  gown  I  possessed  had  been  checked 
through  to  San  Francisco. 

Mr.  M.  told  me  I  must,  by  all  means,  go  to  the  Taber- 
nacle and  the  Theater  ;  in  tlie  first  place  they  are  taught 
religion,  in  the  second,  "  the  manners  of  society." 

April  27. — At  Cheyenne,  to-day,  a  nuniber  of  pleasant 
people  came  on  board.     AVas  introduced  by  Dr.  C.  to  Mr. 


126  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

W.,  a  young  Philadelphian,  who  is  traveling  for  his  health. 
We  have  some  celebrities  with  us,  a  minister  plenipo- 
tentiary, also  one  of  the  present  cabinet.  The  latter  is  an 
ill-looking  man,  with  an  under  jaw  ]ike  a  bulldog.  Is  this 
"  a  great  man  ?  "  Would  I  be  wilh'ng  to  point  him  out  to 
my  children  as  "a  great  man?"  If  I  had  my  choice  I 
would  rather  "  roar  me  a  lion  that  is  not  Snug  the  joiner." 
All  day  long  we  have  been  crossing  these  weird,  desolate 
plains,  where  '*  all  is  sage,  and  brush  and  alkali — alkali, 
brush  and  sage."  Tlie  smooth,  calm  monotony  of  steady, 
slow  going  is  not,  after  all,  unpleasant  ;  the  endless  reach  of 
sand  and  sage,  even  the  monotonous  roll  of  low  sand  hills 
here  and  there,  do  not  seem  to  vary  the  stereotyped  look  of 
the  landscape.  Bessie  has  read  the  guide-book  for  hours, 
but  I  utterly  decline  to  do  that.  I  will  see  this  country 
with  a  mind  and  spirit  fresh  for  the  purpose  ;  no  groove  of 
other  travelers'  thoughts  shall  trammel  me  in  looking  at 
either  landscape  or  people.  I  have  not  read  Bowles  and 
Colfax,  et  id  omne  genus,  nor  do  I  mean  to  do  so.  Has 
not  one  eyes  and  intelligence  wherewith  to  see  and  think 
for  one's  self  ?  No  description  gives  one  a  true  idea  of  a 
region,  unless  I  make  honorable  exception  of  Bret  Harte,  in 
Ciceley.  That  poem  penetrates  you  with  a  true  sense  of  an 
alkali  region. 

The  long  row  of  "  towns  "  that  dot  the  whole  length  of 
this  railroad  are  to  me  the  most  sadly  amusing  of  all. 
Three  shanties  and  a  roofless  old  shed  barn  is  a  town  of 
some  importance  ;  twelve  shanties  and  a  "bakery"  entitles 
the  place  to  a  mayor  and  common  council.  1  have  been 
foolish  enough  to  wash  often  while  crossing  this  portion  of 
the  plains,  and  the  result  is  my  lips  are  cut  and  inflamed  to 
a  most  uncomfortable  degree. 

April  28.— We  reach  Ogden  at  4:30  p.  m.     Quite  a  party 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  127 

change  cars  there  for  Salt  Lake  City,  ourselves  among  the 
number.  Our  friend  of  the  goodly  countenance  turns  out 
to  be  a  Presbyterian  minister  (how  true  one's  instincts  are 
sometimes)  ;  he  has  kindly  offered  his  services  in  our  Salt 
Lake  detour,  as  also  Mr.  W.  and  Mr.  C.  ;  this  latter  is  a 
Bostonian,  who  came  in  last  night  to  attend  the  concert. 
We  have  a  melodeon  on  our  car  that  wheezes  and  squeaks 
as  if  its  lungs  had  been  racked  to  pieces  with  much 
shaking ;  but  we  got  up  some  first-rate  singing.  A  big  man 
who  had  played  cards  for  the  last  forty-eight  hours  with 
the  cabinet  minister  came  to  the  front  on  this  occasion  and 
sang  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  with  a  pathos  and  enjoyment  that 
quite  inspired  me.  I  said  to  Mr.  M.  that  "it  was  a  little 
surprising."  "  Not  at  all,  not  at  all,"  he  replied.  "  You 
see,  Mrs.  S.,  after  you've  lived  in  this  country  as  long  as  I 
have,  you'll  come  to  be  pretty  broad-gauged  in  the  matter 
of  religion  ;  a  little  goes  a  great  way,  and  even  that  is  hard 
to  keep."  How  I  thanked  God  for  the  dear  old  hymns 
that  made  us  all  one  family,  and  caused  one  to  cling  closer 
than  ever  to  the  "  little  religion  that  is  hard  to  keep." 

6:30  p.  M. — Safe  and  sound  in  the  center  and  capital  of 
Mormonism.  All  looks  serene,  so  far.  At  Ogden  we  were 
the  only  ladies  going  to  Utah,  and  hence  had  an  escort  of 
from  five  to  eight  gentlemen,  each  vicing  with  the  other  in 
showing  a  watchful  but  unobtrusive  politeness  and  care  for 
"  the  ladies  who  were  alone." 

On  the  restaurant  counter  of  the  depot  at  Ogden  I 
observed  an  immense  pile  (not  less  than  several  hundred)  of 
flasks  of  whisky  ;  they  struck  me  as  being  very  suggest- 
ive !  When  Theodore  (our  porter,  a  light-colored,  smart 
mulatto)  came  to  carry  off  our  baggage,  he  evidently  had 
something  on  his  mind,  but  could  not  quite  get  it  off  ;  per- 
haps a   lil)eral   fee  stimulated   his  courage,  for,  with  a  bow 


128  MES.    MOESE   STEWAKT. 

worthy  of  a  French  courtier  or  a  monkey,  he  said, 
"  Madame,  I  hope  you  will  enjoy  Salt  Lake  City.  It  is  a 
good  plan  when  a  person  starts  on  a  journey  like  this  for 
him  to  decide  to  leave  his  politics  and  religion  behind 
him,"  and  with  this  astounding  advice  he  departed.  Is  the 
man,  in  a  measure,  right  ?  Must  what  principle  I  have  be 
so  thoroughly  unobtrusive  ?  No  aggressive  Christian  can 
do  much  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  (if  he 
can  anywhere).  I  have  been  warned  against  "  a  sour  god- 
liness."    What  next  ? 

The  Mormon  Railroad  is  "pretty  fair,"  and  carried  us  at 
the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour  over  a  level  country  (not 
unlike  the  Grand  Marias),  that  on  this  side  skirts  Salt  Lake. 
Except  for  the  heavy  look  of  the  water,  and  the  genuine 
sea  smell,  one  might  think  it  an  inland  fresh  water  lake 
like  our  own  St.  Clair  ;  but  this  is,  indeed,  a  sea — a  sullen, 
waveless  sea.  To  me  it  looks  and  seems  out  of  nature, 
here,  so  many  thousands  of  miles  away  from  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific,  for  this  thing  to  lie  under  the  shelter  of  the 
great  protecting  mountains,  whose  snow-capped  summits 
make  no  reflection  in  its  turbid  depths,  and  send  forth  its 
odors  of  the  ocean.  It  was  not  like  anything  I  had  ever 
seen  before,  and  awakened  no  enthusiasm. 

In  our  car  we  had  five  of  Brigham  Young's  daughters 
and  two  of  his  sons.  I  began  at  the  tip  of  the  feather  in 
their  hats,  and  took  each  one  in  and  clinched  her  in  my 
memory.  Ostrich  feathers  (genuine),  black  silk  velvet  hats, 
lace  garniture  and  veils,  velvet  or  cloth  jackets,  very  much 
trimmed  double  skirts,  flounces,  elaborate  ribbon  trim- 
mings, broad  neckties,  and  broader  sashes,  cloth  boots,  and 
kid  or  silk  gloves.  Each  girl  wore  clothes  that  cost  (out 
there)  at  least  from  $80  to  $100.  The  young  men  were 
well  dressed  and  booted.     On  the  whole,  if  one  has  seven- 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  129 

ty-live  or  a  hundred  boys  and  girls  to  provide  for  in  this 
way,  it  will  cost  something  in  cash  and  taxes,  and  consider- 
able in  popularity.     Every  one  of  these  young  people  had 
that  same  flat,  false  look  that  is  the  characteristic  of  their 
father's  face,  though  some  were  fair  haired,  others  brown  or 
black.     There  was  no  chatter  of  girlish  talk  among  them, 
though  they  seemed  friendly  to  each  other.     After  a  while 
a  man  came  up  and  spoke  to  them,  and   then  they  were 
all  in  a  flutter,  and  prinked  and  smiled,  and  bowed  and 
bobbed,  and   looked  ready  to  swallow  him.     Whatever  I 
may  have  to  do  with  my  politics  and  religion,  I  will  take 
my  womanhood  into  Utah.     I  gave  them  a  side  look  out  of 
dropped  eyelids,  and  retired  into  a  novel,  as  if  theit-  pro- 
ceedings had  been  altogether  too  much  for  me,  and  the 
Misses  Young  were  very  quick  to  observe  all  this  and  sub- 
side ;  one  even  blushed.     As  to  the  man,  when  he  passed  my 
seat,  I  drew  in  my  skirts  and  watched  him  anxiously,  and 
the  Misses  Young  saw  this  also.     10.30  p.  m.— I  have  been 
to  the  theater,  and  if  what  I  saw  there  was  the  "  elevating 
influence  of  the  drama,"  the  Mormon  will   not  get   very 
exalted  ideas  of  anything.     The  house  itself  is  externally 
forlorn,  internally,  not  unlike  in  plan  to  the  Detroit  Opera 
House,  though  on  a  much  smaller  scale.     We  were  ushered 
into  a  gallery  both  low  and  dark,  that  did  not  admit  of  a 
comfortable  survey  of  the  house  or  the  people  therein,  and 
were  told  that  this  was  reserved  for  the  Gentiles.     Being 
called  a  Gentile  by  the  Apostle  Paul  is  one  thing,  but  for 
that  old  reprobate,  Brigham  Young,  to  set  respectable  peo- 
ple apart  in  that  invidious  way  did  not  comport  with  my 
views,  and  I  at  once  expressed  my  desire  to  go  down  stairs 
among  the  Mormons.     Mr.  II.,  having  some  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  S.,  "a  powerful  bishop  of  the  church,"   applied 
to  liim  for  permission  to  take  his  party  into  the  dress  circle. 


180  MES.    MOESE   STEWART. 

It  was  promptly  granted,  and  our  location  changed ;  a  bet- 
ter view  of  the  stage  and  the  house  was  gained.  As  this 
was  the  first  and  only  theater  I  had  ever  seen,  of  course  I 
was  curiously  observant  of  both  the  stage  and  actors.  The 
scenery  was  of  the  plainest  and  least  tasteful  description, 
and  the  stage  properties,  forlorn  and  poverty-stricken 
enough.  Yet  the  actress  was  a  "  star  " — Mrs.  Bates,  rather 
a  pretty  woman.  She  was  supported  by  a  company  of  raw 
recruits  from  the  harems  of  the  various  Prophets  and  Pres- 
idents of  this  misguided  people.  The  play  was  "  Camille." 
Years  ago,  when  play-goers  were  more  fastidious  than  at 
present,  I  had  read  the  original  French  version  as  it  was 
brought  out  on  the  Parisian  stage  ;  and  now  I  heard  it 
stripped  of  all  its  pretty  shades  of  dainty  words  and  phrases 
— saw  it  in  all  the  bald  badness  of  a  tainted  taste — faugh  !  I 
wish  no  more  such  sensational,  slippery  stuff.  On  the 
right-hand  side  of  the  house  were  seated,  in  a  private  sec- 
tion, a  moiety  of  Brigham  Young's  wives  and  families. 
Only  one  woman  amongst  them  had  a  bright,  intelligent 
face.  Some  of  his  sons  were  hanging  about  in  the  rear  of 
this  party,  lounging  in  and  out  of  the  green-room  of  the 
theater,  which  evidently  had  a  door  of  communication  from 
that  gallery.  At  the  end  of  the  building  was  a  red- 
curtained  box,  in  which  President  Young  sat,  and  sparsely 
scattered  through  the  house  were  about  a  hundred  young 
girls  and  women,  all  handsomely  dressed.  Scarcely  any 
men  were  to  be  seen.  Several  seats  at  the  side  and  rear  of 
us  were  entirely  empty,  and  the  same  might  have  been  said 
of  three  or  four  in  front,  save  for  the  presence  of  a  plain- 
looking  woman  directly  before  me,  of  perhaps  forty  years 
of  age,  who  wore  a  last  year's  bonnet  of  brown  silk, 
adorned  with  a  shabby  red  flower  or  two.  She  sat  so  still 
that  I  absolutely  forgot  her  entirely,  and  as  the  play  went 


TRIP   TO   CALIFOKNIA.  131 

on  and  Cainille  described  with  great  fervor  the  manner  in 
which  she  and  her  Armand  would  dwell  in  bliss  somewhere 
— where  she  should  do  her  own  work — and  laid   excessive 
stress  upon  the  fact  that  he  would   be  devoted  07ily  to  her^ 
he  would  love  only  her,  he  would  never  *leave  he7',  etc. — I 
turned  to  Mr,  II.  and  remarked  carelessly,  "  That  must  be 
an  edifying  scene  to  the  Mormon  sisters."     In  an  instant, 
like  a  flash  of  lightning,  the  little  brown  bonnet  reversed 
its  flowers,  and  glaring  into  my  very  face  were  a  pair  of 
flashing  eyes,  two  hands  raised  and  clinched  like  claws  were 
within  two  inches  of  me.     Whether  the  woman  uttered  a 
sound  or  not  I  cannot  say,  but  she  looked  the  growl  of  a 
tigress ;  such  passion  I  never  saw  in  a  human  face.     I  am 
too  phlegmatic  to  flinch,  but  Mr.  H.  raised  his  arm  to  pro- 
tect me,  and  in  a  second  the  back  of  her  head  was  towards 
us  again.     Indeed,  so  quickly  had  all  this  transpired,  that 
neither  Bessie  nor  Mr.  W.  saw  it,  and  but  for  the  continu- 
ous quivering  of  the  dingy  fuchsias,  I  might  have  thought 
I  had  dozed  off  and  dreamed  the  scene.     She  did  not  stir 
again  during  the  whole    hour  we  sat   in   the   theater,  but 
seemed  absorbed  in  Mrs.  Bates'  prolonged   hysterical  ago- 
nies.    As  we  rose  to  leave   the  house  she  gave  me  one 
thorough  stare,  and  if  her  memory  is  good  she  will  know 
me  hereafter.     Poor  thing,  how  sore  her  heart  must   be, 
how  morbidly  sensitive  her  pride,  how  uncomfortable  the 
flashing  out  of  her  inner  life,  and  yet  what  a  strong  power 
of   suppression.     I  would  beg  her   pardon    for   my  cruel 
words  if   that  would  do  any  good.     Think  what  her  life 
must  have  been,  opposing  itself  to  the  brutal  and  brutal- 
izing ideas  of  "  revelations,"  as  they  call  them,  of  polygamy. 
I  had  taunted  her  with  her  shame  and  her  desolation,  and 
she  hated  me.     Could  T  blame  her?     "God  pity  her,  for 
she's  a  woman  still." 


132  MES.   MORSE   STEWART. 

Sabbath  Noon,  April  28th.— This  morning  Mr.  C.  sent 
up  his  card  with  the  morning  paper  announcing  services  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  St.  Mark's  Mission  (Episcopal), 
and  the  Methodist  Church ;  also  the  Mormon  performances 
in  the  Tabernacle.  The  programme  for  the  day  was  soon 
arranged  ;  I  betook  myself  in  the  morning  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  while  Bessie  went  to  St.  Mark's,  where  she 
described  the  congregation  as  numbering  two  hundred. 
The  Presbyterian  Church  is  not  so  large,  and  meeting  "  in 
an  upper  room,"  but  there  were  enough  of  us  gathered 
there  to  warrant  the  presence  and  blessing  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour.  Our  friend  Mr.  C.  was  to  fill  the  pulpit  in  tlie 
evening.  For  many  days  I  had  wondered  what  I  should 
do  with  the  fourth  commandment  when  I  went  to  the  Tab- 
ernacle, and  not  being  thoroughly  satisfied  I  should  break 
it  (considering  my  motives),  and  being  even  less  settled  as 
to  ray  keeping  it,  I  gave  up  the  question  and  arranged  to  go 
in  the  afternoon  with  my  two  ministerial  friends  and  Bessie 
to  the  Tabernacle.  Rev.  Mr.  W.,  the  pastor  I  had  heard  in 
the  morning,  said  that  he  was  anxious  that  every  one  visit- 
ing Salt  Lake  City  should  see  and  know  for  themselves  the 
doctrines  and  spirit  of  Mormonism.  On  my  way  home 
from  the  mornino-  service  I  had  met  the  tremendous  tide  of 
heathenism  that  was  flowing  out  of  the  great  colossal  gath- 
ering place  they  call  their  Tabernacle,  and  having  been 
comforted  by  the  prayers  and  presence  of  God's  people, 
had  absolutely  forgotten  what  was  the  main  element  of  the 
city  and  country,  and  so  asked  innocently  enough  whether 
the  Methodist  Church  had  just  been  dismissed  ?  The  man 
to  whom  I  had  addressed  the  question  looked  at  me  with 
a  smile  of  pleasant  pity,  and  made  answer:  "Madam, 
these  are  the  Latter  Day  Saints ;"  and  then  the  multitude 
began   to    pour   through   the  city  thick  and  fast.     Sturdy 


TRIP  TO   CALIFORNIA.  138 

looking  men — almost  all  young — moved  forward  with  a 
swinging  stride  utterly  indescribable.  One  must  see  the 
walk  of  "  a  settler  "  to  comprehend  it ;  it  is  not  exactly  a 
hustle — it  is  too  persistent  for  that — but  it  is  not  such  a 
gait  as  one  ever  sees  on  our  own  avenues,  or  even  in  a  regi- 
ment of  men.  In  fact,  it  was  more  like  the  dash  of  the 
mountain  streams  of  Salt  Lake  City — two-feet-wide  little 
torrents  of  water,  six  or  eight  inches  deep,  sweeping  along 
in  a  bustle  through  their  stony  beds  and  tearing  forward 
with  a  stir  and  commotion  that  is  quite  enlivening.  As 
the  crowd  passed  me — for  at  once  I  set  my  face  eastward 
and  walked  against  this  human  current — I  observed  the 
men  all  by  themselves,  the  women  following  behind  ;  these 
latter  were  plain,  common,  countrified  creatures,  foreign  in 
their  aspect,  plain  but  comfortable  in  their  dress.  Tliey 
looked  happy  to  think  they  owned  one  of  the  hundreds  of 
wagons  tliat  filled  the  streets  (it  was  immaterial  to  them 
whether  they  drove  mules  or  oxen),  for  the  sense  and  look 
of  possession  was  strong  in  every  face.  Hundreds  passed 
me,  and  thousands  were  crowding  up  behind  ;  in  short,  I 
was  compelled  to  turn  and  walk  with  them  till  I  reached  a 
street  less  crowded.  It  appears  that  this  is  a  field  day  in 
the  Mormon  camp,  and  is  the  last  of  a  series  of  convoca- 
tions. 

Sabbath  Afternoon,  6  r.  m. — Dear  me,  I  feel  as  if  I  had 
been  at  a  circus ;  as  far  as  a  comfortable  conscience  goes,  I 
miglit  much  better  have  stayed  at  home  and  studied  my 
Bible.  At  2.30  we  were  en  route  for  the  Tabernacle,  a  build- 
ing that  looks  like  a  stupendous  musliroom  sided  in,  but  is 
measurably  hidden  from  public  view  by  an  immense  wall 
built  around  a  large  square,  in  which  is  also  the  foundation 
for  "the  Temple."  AVe  had  front  seats,  or  at  least  those 
well  foi'ward  in  the  center  of  the  house,  which  is  a  Imge 


134  MRS.   MORSE    STEWART. 

barn  of  a  place,  liaving  a  large  galler}'  running  all  around  it. 
About  a  sixth  of  the  space  in  front  of  us  is  occupied  by  the 
organ  (a  very  magnificent  affair,  but  not  completed)  and 
choir,  consisting  of  nearly  two  hundred  most  indifferent 
voices  as  well  as  singers,  and  ranges  of  seats,  more  or  less 
elevated,  for  the  various  ranks  of  dignitaries  in  this 
church!  There  is  President  Young's  seat,  then  those  of 
the  Apostles,  Elders,  Bishops,  etc.  Vis-a-vis  as  we  were, 
we  had  an  excellent  opportunity  of  studying  the  physiog- 
nomy of  the  leaders  of  these  benighted  creatures.  First  of 
all  was  old  Orson  Pratt,  whose  very  hair  seemed  redolent  of 
the  hate  and  bigotry  that  is  so  ingrained  in  his  nature ; 
indeed,  the  faces  of  all  these  men  were  either  wicked  and 
devilish,  or  narrow,  fanatical  and  self-righteous.  The  con- 
gregation consisted  of  at  least  thirteen  thousand  persons, 
two-thirds  of  whom  were  women  ;  more  than  the  half  of 
them  seemed  common,  rough,  coarse  field  hands,  but  very 
few  looked  depraved.  Then  there  were  others  who  showed 
some  refinement  of  face  and  life  ;  these  had  a  vicious  look 
when  they  glanced  at  the  pews  reserved  for  "  the  Gentiles," 
of  whom  there  were  two  or  three  hundred  present.  Every 
variety  of  feminine  costume  was  to  be  seen,  and  almost 
every  fashion  ever  invented  of  hat  or  bonnet.  The  major- 
ity wore  hats  or  Shakers ;  a  few  slat  sun  bonnets  from  the 
rural  districts  showed  their  ugliness,  and  one  sweet-faced 
Enolish  woman  sat  serene  and  sad  within  the  enclosure  of 
"a  cottage  bonnet,"  around  the  front  of  which  on  the 
inside  were  twined  "as  a  border"  a  wreath  of  good-sized 
artificial  roses.  After  all  there  was  something  so  womanly 
and  attractive  about  her  quaint  but  well-preserved  head- 
gear, that  my  mind  traveled  back  to  the  time  when  such 
were  woman's  ways  and  fashions,  and  forward  to  the  lessen- 
ing size  of  head  dresses  and  the  overpowering  power  of 


I 


I 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  135 

hair,  and  so  I  forgot  to  attend  to  the  first  prayer,  which 
went  off  like  a  sky  rocket.  This  was  followed  by  the  sing- 
ing of  the  hymn  so  dear  to  us  all — 

"  Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire." 

Even  the  tune  was  our  own  ;  it  was  shocking.  Again 
followed  anotlier  prayer,  to  which  I  paid  the  strictest  atten- 
tion. Indeed,  during  the  afternoon  there  were  seven 
prayers,  as  they  called  them,  and  they  were  the  oddest  and 
most  extraordinary  mixture  of  religion,  rant  and  blasphemy 
it  is  possible  to  conceive  of  in  the  English  language. 
Scraps  of  the  form  of  prayer  of  the  English  Church  rattled 
out  by  one  man  in  the  midst  of  blasphemous  thanksgiving 
for  the  release  of  Brigham  Young,  while  another  had  all 
the  fervor  and  form  of  expression  of  the  Methodist  religion, 
and  a  third  pleaded  his  cause  with  God's  covenant  promises 
at  his  tongue's  end.  He  struck  me  as  being  the  worst  of 
all,  for  I  am  convinced  he  knew  better,  and  I  am  constrained 
to  confess  that  I  thought  him  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  ! 

Below  the  dais  on  which  the  elite  sat  was  a  long  table  on 
which  were  placed  the  elements  for  communion  service,  a 
dozen  or  so  silver  cake  baskets  filled  with  bread,  and  as 
many  ice  pitchers  filled  with  water.  These  Avere  afterwards 
distributed  among  the  congregation  in  a  helter-skelter  fash- 
ion that  had  not  the  slightest  reverence  or  solemnity  about 
it,  and  made  one's  blood  fairly  curdle  with  horror  and 
dismay'. 

Then  ,Briffham  Young  took  the  stand.  He  is  a  smooth- 
faced  diplomatist,  who  keeps  what  he  knows  behind  his 
flat,  false  face,  and  thus  hides  some  of  his  villainy.  There 
he  stood,  a  large  man  dressed  in  the  finest  of  broadcloth,  but 
havine:  tied  round  his  neck  over  his  coat  a  Magenta  silk 
handkerchief,  while   he   frequently   and   vociferously   blew 


136  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

his  nose  on  a  scarlet  mouchoir  of  the  same  material.     He 
leaned   on  the  desk  and  said  to  his  audience :    "  How  are 
you  ?    How  do  you  do  %  "    They  answered,  "  Oh,  first  rate ! " 
"  All  right !  "     "  Bully  !  "     He  then  congratulated  himself 
and  them  upon  his  release  from  a  kind  of  nominal  imprison- 
ment to  which  he  had  been  subjected  by  the  United  States 
government,  spoke  in   pleasant   terms  of  the  captain  and 
company  who  had  him  in  charge,  and   then  went  on  with 
his  usual  (they  tell   me)  reference  to  Joseph  Smith,  and 
their  church  being  driven  from  Missouri,  and  thence  drifted 
into  a  diplomatic  tirade  against  all  Gentiles,  their  religion, 
laws,  etc.     He  is  an  old  man.     I  was  thankful  to  be  assured 
that  he  is  now  seventy-two  years  of  age,  and  trust  God  in 
His  providence  will  soon  remove  him  from  the  world  and 
a  position  in  which  he  has  still   more  influence  than  any 
man  in  Utah,  although  his  own  people  call  him    "Profit" 
Young.     He  is  a  very  common  person  in  his  speech  and 
manner,  and  ungrammatical    expressions  poured  from  his 
lips  in  a  style  that  showed  he  was  oblivious  to  any  rules  of 
the  science  of  language.     At  last  he  closed  by  saying  :  "  The 
choir  will  now  sing  an  ann-thee-um."     This  was  too  much 
for  my  gravity,  and  I  laughed  such  a  jolly  laugh  that  every 
one  joined  me.     George  A.  Smith,  a  desperately  ugly  old 
Englishman,  in  a  high  frizzled  wig,  who  is  usually  called 
"The  Bully  Bishop,"  then  spoke  for  some  time.     It  was  a 
clap-trap  kind  of  talk  that  would  have  been  very  indifferent 
stump  speaking.     His  main  point  was  the  assurance  that 
he  knew  when  to  stop.     After  three  more  speeches  and  a 
final  ''Ann-thee-um,''  the  convocation  was  dismissed,  and 
will  not  meet  again  until  October.     Although  there  were 
full  thirteen  thousand  persons  present,  the  egress  from  the 
house  is  so  well  planned  that  in  ten  minutes  the  building 
was  emptied.     We  walked  home  in  a  pouring  rain.     I  am 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  137 

lionr  by  hour  more  and  more  overwhelmed  by  a  realizing 
sense  of  the  heathenism  of  this  portion   of  onr  country. 
That  it  should  exist  and  flourish  as  it  does  is  a  disgrace,  a 
horror,  a  desolating  and  disheartening  thought.     That  Salt 
Lake,  that  treacherous,  mysterious  looking  sea,  should  rise 
inch  by  inch  and  foot  by  foot,  as  it  proves  to  do,  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  when  we  remember  the  fate  of  the  cities  of 
the   plain.     Sodom  and   Gomorrah  were  swallowed   up  in 
their  day,  and  so  yet  may  this  festering  mass  of  corruption 
be  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth.     10  p.  m. — At  7  the 
rain  ceased,  and  the  sun  sank  slowly  behind  the  snow  cov- 
ered Wasatch  Mountains,  leaving  an  "afterglow"  that  was 
glorious  to  behold.     It  seemed  as  if  beyond  those  hills  was 
promise  of  an  eternal  day,  a  heavenly  city,  where  there  was 
no  need  of   sun   or  moon,   for  the   Lamb  was   the   light 
thereof,  the   brightness  and  glory  of   that  new  Jerusalem 
for  which  we  long.     Never  before  had  we   seen   such    a 
wonderful  irradiation.     The  sun  in  all  his  pomp  and  power 
had  not  the  awe-inspiring  force  of  this  subtle   and   pene- 
trating  brilliancy  of  the  heavens.     In    the   evening  Kev. 
Mr.  C.  preached  extemporaneously,  taking  for  his  text  the 
comfort  and  the  sure  support  of  an  intelligent  and  enlight- 
ened faith  in  the  Son  of  Ilighteousness.     They  were  words 
fitly  spoken,  and  "like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver." 
Thus  Christ,  in  his  infinite  love  and  watchful  mercy,  had 
sent  the  comforter  to  those  of  his  people  who  had  rallied 
round  the  banner  of  the  cross,  and  a  day  star  of  hoi)e  has 
arisen  in  our  hearts  once  more. 

Monday  Morning,  April  29. — I  felt  every  bone  in  my 
body  aching  with  a  special  ache  of  its  own  ere  I  opened 
my  eyes  to  see  heavy  flakes  of  snow  falling  thick  and  fast, 
filling  the  peach  and  plum  blossoms  like  so  many  upturned 
cups  in  the  gardens  about  our  windows,  covering  deep  and 

15 


138  MKS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

wliite   the  ground  and  street,  shutting  out  all  hope   of  a 
drive  to  Camp  Douglass  (Gen.  M.  had  called  yesterday,  and 
we  were  to  see  him  again  at  the  camp).     The  Mormon  wives 
who  inhabited  the  house  next  us  scuttled   in   and  out  of 
doors  in  the  preparation  of  breakfast.     Onr  room  was  cold 
and    cheerless,  and  we   dressed    slowly  and    rather  sourly. 
On  descending  to  the  dining-room  we   found  a  good  fire 
and  more  comfortable  atmosphere.     The  big  Mormon  pro- 
prietor of  the  hotel,  a  pompous,  swelling,  disgusting  look- 
ing   man,  who  had   three  wives — one  to  superintend    the 
kitchen,  the  next  to  look  after  the   housemaids,  and    the 
third  to  be  a  fine  lady — marched  up  and  down  past  us  as 
we  stood  near  the  stove,  taking  no  more  heed  of  two  lone 
women  than   if  we   never  existed.      Whether  it  was  the 
snow-ladened  air,  or  my  contempt  for  a   Mormon,  or  the 
way  I  ached  that  made  me  fractious,  I  cannot  say,  but  as  he 
came  up  between  the  rows  of  tables  for  the  third  time,  I 
approached  him  and  said  with  gentle  inquiry,  "  Is  this  the 
head  waiter?"     All  at  once  his  great  double  chin  and  bull 
neck  flamed  red  like  the  wattles  of  an  angry  gobbler,  and 
he  replied,  holding  his  voice  as  well  as  he  could,  "  It  is  not." 
I   bowed,    looked  discouraged,  and  inquired    meekly,  "Is 
there  a  head  waiter?"     This  drove  him  desperate,  and  he 
made  answer,  "  What  do  you  wish,  madam  ?  "     "  Some  one 
whose   business  it  is   to  show  some   attention   to  a  lady." 
"  We  all  show  attention  to  the  ladies,"  he  replied,  with  that 
puffy  sort  of  condescension   peculiar  to  pompous  people. 
In  one  second  my  nostrils  flared,  my  lips  quivered,  1  drew 
my  hands  together,  and  my  figure  within  itself  as  it  were, 
and  let  every  fibre  of  it  express  the  disgust  I  genuinely  felt, 
as  I  said,  "Not  such  attention  as  I  have  been  accustomed 
to.    Will  you  show  me  to  a  seat? "     Really,  the  man  looked 
as  if  he  would  burst  a  blood-vessel,  but  by  the  time  he  had 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  139 

placed  us  at  the  table,  Bessie  said  he  had  turned  as  pale  as 
death,  and  she  expected  to  see  him  fall  down  in  a  fit.  As 
Tony  Weller  said  of  the  man  who  kept  a  pike,  I  "  awenged  " 
myself  on  human  nature  in  that  Mormon.  Xo  doubt  he 
would  have  gladly  sent  the  Danites  (those  wretches  who 
execute  the  will  of  Brigham  Young's  inquisition)  after  me, 
but  General  M.  called  and  took  us  over  to  Mr.  M.'s,  to  see 
the  specimens  of  ore  taken  from  those  wonderful  silver  and 
copper  mines  that  promise  such  unlimited  wealth  to  this 
Territory.     Thus  I  was  protected  by  the  United  States. 

We  also  when  the  storm  abated,  went  to  see  the  museum, 
where  there  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  birds  they 
called  a  barn  owl.  It  looked  and  acted  precisely  like  a  stu- 
pid monkey,  and  would  have  made  the  fortune  of  Dorc,  or 
comforted  the  heart  of  Darwin. 

6  P,  M. — General  M.  conducted  us  to  the  cars,  and  at  two 
p.  M.  we  were  en  route  for  Ogden.  As  I  looked  about  I 
saw  in  a  seat  near  me  a  plain  old  lady,  of  sixty  or  more,  who 
had  such  a  bright  face  that  I  determined  to  cultivate  her. 
"Within  three  minutes  we  were  engaged  in  an  animated 
'\  conversation    on   the   subject   of   the   Mormons   and  their 

abominable  belief  and  practices.  She  told  me  she  had 
been  two  hundred  miles  out  of  Salt  Lake  City  to  visit  her 
only  son,  who  was  a  Mormon.  I  had  not  the  heart  to  ask 
the  poor  old  dame  how  many  daughters-in-law  she  had  been 
forced  to  contend  with.  She  had  lived  with  him  six 
months.  Siie  knew  the  rural  districts.  The  womeri  were 
not  bad,  but  "  the  men  beat  natur'."  Presently  her  hus- 
band approached  us  and  said:  "Now,  mother,  you  just 
keep  quiet ;  we'll  get  to  Ogden  presently,  then  you  can  say 
what  you've  a  mind  to.  There's  a  man  sitting  right  behind 
you  with  two  wives  along  with  him ;  you  talk  'bout  some- 
thing else." 


140  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

"  Pa,"  replied  the  old  lady  gallantly,  "  it's  no  use  talking 
any  more  to  me.  It's  been,  '  Ma,  don't  say  a  word,'  '  Don't 
you  let  on  to  notice,'  '  Keep  a  civil  tongue,'  'I  wouldn't  say 
anything  about  it.'  and  all  that,  for  six  mortal  months,  and  I 
done  it  too ;  but  I'll  tell  this  lady  all  I  know  if  she  wants 
to  hear  it.  If  the  man  with  two  wives  behind  me  bursts 
hisself,  you  know  it  'ill  be  true,  every  word  of  it."  The  old 
gentleman,  seeing  his  good  lady  had  taken  the  bit  between 
her  teeth,  subsided  with  a  sigh. 

Such  a  history  as  she  gave  me  would  satisfy  any  reason- 
able person  that  the  system  and  practices  of  the  Mormon 
church  were  a  stench  in  the  nostril^  of  all  decent  people. 
This  generation  of  women  are  not  so  badly  demoralized,  but 
the  young  girls  coming  on  to  tlie  stage  are  thoroughly  cor- 
rupt already,  and  as  the  old  lady  remarked,  "  If  there  ain't 
any  women  to  the  fore  to  keep  the  men  and  the  children 
up  to  what  they  ought  to  be,  I'd  like  to  know  who  is  going 
to  do  it,  or  what  is  to  become  of  the  hull  lot."  With  this 
question  we  close  our  paragraph. 

Tuesday,  April  30th.— Yesterday  we  had  our  Urst  expe- 
rience in  providing  for  ourselves.  At  the  Ogden  depot  the 
Pullman  palace  cars  cease  and  the  Silver  palace  cars  take 
their  place.  As  an  Irish  friend  might  remark,  they  are 
"  the  same  with  a  difference."  Then  too,  it  is  somewhat 
difficult  to  get  sections,  but  Bessie  is  quite  wonderful,  for 
when  every  man  of  our  escort  failed  to  make  any  impres- 
sion upon  the  railway  officials,  she  seized  the  tickets 
and  purses,  insisted  upon  being  allowed  the  privilege  of 
stepping  inside  of  the  office,  and  in  ten  minutes  returned 
with  the  live  best  sections  in  the  car  secured  to  our  party. 
Hats  were  raised  and  thanks  tendered  ;  the  young  woman 
was  recognized  as  a  power — an  efficient  agent.  "  She  knew 
how  to  do  business"  —  "Her  head  was  level."     She  had 


TRIP   TO    CALIFORNIA.  141 

been  so  agreeable  that  it  had  never  occurred  to  any  person 
she  could  be  useful.     It  was  amusing  to  see,  after  this  busi- 
ness escapade,  how  much  she  was  consulted  and  referred  to. 
After  getting  ourselves  settled  and  in  order  for  another 
fifty  hours  of  travel,  we  watched  our  fellow  passengers  with 
much  interest.     The  first  comer  was  a  magnificent  miner, 
a  tall,  square-shouldered  fellow,  six  feet  four  at  least.     He 
misht  have  been  a  son   of  Anak.     His  clothes  fitted  him 
superbly— Rasch  &  Bernart  never  turned  out  anything  more 
artistic  than  the  brown  mixture  tliat  clothed  this  Colossus  of 
Utah.     His    brown    locks    blew    back   from   a  very  plain 
face,  as  he  dashed  into  the  cars  cheering  on  a  half  dozen 
followers.     Such    a    face    and    such    a   figure  one  always 
fancies  as  leading  a  forlorn  hope — gallant,  brilliant,  brave, 
sanguine — the  nerve  of  a  conqueror  and  the  dare  of  a  Bohe- 
mian.    In  one  hand  he  carried  the  inevitable  portmanteau, 
in  the  other  a  long  black  whisky  bottle ;  his  six  companions 
were  all  similarly  equipped  for  the  journey,  except  that  one 
man  in  lieu  of  a  hand-satchel  and  whisky  bottle,  had  a  high 
demijohn  and  whisky  bottle.     The  party  soon  settled  into 
their  sections  just  adjoining  ours,  whipped  out  a  pack  of 
cards,    and    began,   with    great   shouting   and  much  good- 
natured  swearing  and  laughter,  to  play  "seven  up."    Young 
Mrs.  F.,  a  lovely  woman  from  New  York,  the  only  lady 
besides  ourselves  on  board,  came  down  the  car  to  bemoan 
with  us  our  noisy,  lawless  neighbors.     What  should  we  do? 
My  advice  was  to  wait  a  little,  and  perhaps  we  could  bring 
them  into  some  sort  of  order,  but  how,  no  one  knew.     We 
certainly  did   not  wish   to   speak  to  this  whisky-drinking, 
gambling,  swearing,  lawless  crew  of  wild   men.     But  the 
angel  over  our  right  shoulder  warned  us  to  deal  gently  with 
them.     At  night  after  the  berths  were  made  up,  and  they 
were  forced  to  go  to  bed,  tlicy  passed  their  bottles  and  told 


142  MKS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

ridiculous  stories,  cracked  senseless  jokes,  and  seemed  deter- 
mined never  to  subside.  The  next  morning  our  plan  of 
action  was  decided  upon.  Bessie  was  to  make  the  most  of 
my  pale  face,  grieve  over  it,  etc.,  express  the  hope  that  I 
might  get  to  San  Francisco  without  being  ill,  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing,  while  I  would  be  as  pleasant  as  I  could  on  the 
suljject  of  our  various  trials.  No  sooner  was  the  car  in 
order  again,  than  "seven  up"  was  inaugurated  for  the  day. 
Breakfast  would  not  be  reached  for  two  hours,  and  all  the 
miners  exchanged  bottles  and  took  a  round  from  the  demi- 
john ;  the  blasphemy  began  again  ;  something  definite  must 
be  done.  I  had  been  studying  the  scenery,  which  as  yet 
was  but  a  repetition  of  the  sand  hills  of  the  two  days  out 
from  Omaha,  when  all  at  once  the  big  miner  swore  a  most 
tremendous  oath.  I  tui'ned  with  a  start  that  was  genuine, 
and  said  silently,  as  far  as  expression  could  say  :  "  My  friend, 
whatever  else  you  do,  you  Tnust  not  dishonor  God's  name." 
Whether  he  blushed,  or  whether  the  whisky  only  came  to 
the  surface,  I  cannot  say,  but  every  time  he  broke  the  third 
commandment  after  that  he  looked  to  see  if  we  objected 
to  it.  We  did  object ;  we  appeared  disturbed  and  distressed, 
until  at  last  he  reached  a  point  of  attention  M^here  he  bit  an 
oath  in  two,  and  then  with  a  grave  and  courteous  smile  I 
made  my  countenance  say,  "I  thank  you,  sir."  By  noon 
the  big  miner  had  thrown  up  the  cards  and  walked  up  and 
down  the  aisle  of  the  car,  restless  as  a  lion  in  a  cage.  He 
evidently  wished  to  speak  to  us,  but  dared  not.  At  last  a 
guide  book  slipped  off  the  seat,  and  slid  and  rattled  into  the 
middle  of  the  car ;  he  captured  it  on  his  way  down,  read 
the  name  in  it  before  he  turned  about,  and  came  back  offer- 
ing it  shyly  to  me.  I  thanked  him,  and  by  my  manner 
expressed,  "I  would  be  glad  to  say  more,  but  am  afraid  you 
are  not  sufficiently  respectable."  The  man  felt  and  accepted 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORKIA.  143 

the  doubt,  and  linmbly  said,  "Are  you  from  the  States?" 
"  Yes."  After  a  few  preliminaries  about  where,  when,  etc., 
he  flushed  very  red,  and  inquired,  "  Did  you  sleep  well  last 
night?"  "Oh,  very  well  after  the  car  quieted  down." 
"  Did  I  understand  that  you  two  ladies  are  traveling  alone  f  " 
"Yes."  Then  swallowing  a  great  lump  in  his  throat  he 
remarked,  "  We  thought  the  gentlemen  with  you  belonged 
to  you  some  way."  "  Ko,"  I  replied,  "they  are  strangers  ; 
they  have  been  most  polite  and  kind,  but  we  are  alone  all 
the  same  ;  it  is  a  long  journey."  After  this  what  became 
of  the  cards  and  whisky  no  one  knew ;  but  the  men  ceased 
to  swear,  and  comported  themselves  in  the  most  respectful 
and  deferential  manner.  One  was  a  geologist,  another  a 
civil  engineer — an  elderly  old  soul  with  a  terrific  impedi- 
ment in  his  speech — the  two  looked  so  exactly  alike  in  face, 
hair,  beard  and  figure,  that  we  could  only  distinguish  them 
by  their  expression,  and  so  called  one  "  good  Mr.  Brown," 
and  the  other  "vicious  Mr.  Brown."  Then  there  was 
"little  Mr.  Miner"  and  "big  Mr.  Miner." 

To-night  tiie  agent  came  for  our  names,  and  I  found  that 
at  this  point  (Weston),  the  telegraph  announces  our  pres- 
ence in  California,  and  to-morrow  the  papers  will  publish 
in  San  Francisco  and  Sacramento  a  full  list  of  Pullman  car 
passengers  to  arrive  by  the  evening  train.  Tiius  far  the 
scenery  has  been  to  me  rather  disappointing;  the  rarefied 
air  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  gave  a  more  impressive  idea  of 
height  than  one  gained  by  looking  from  the  car  window  or 
platform.     To-morrow  the  scene  is  to  change. 

Wednesday. — This  morning  at  five  o'clock  we  were  up 
and  dressed,  and  all  adjourned  to  the  platform  of  the  rear 
car,  to  view  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains.  At  this  point  we 
asked  for  an  observation  car,  but  although  their  time  tables 
advertise  them,  the  conductors  announced  that  there  was  no 


144  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

provision  for  one.  The  miners  followed  us  out,  and  seemed 
to  be  anxious  to  see  what  impression  their  mountains  made 
upon  us ;  and  so  willing  and  anxious  were  they  to  tell  us  all 
they  knew  of  the  peaks  and  flats  of  the  Sierras,  that  Mrs. 
F.,  Bessie  and  myself  had  not  the  heart  to  turn  the  cold 
shoulder  upon  them.  What  a  comment  it  was  upon  a 
woman's  influence.  Never  handsome,  no  longer  young,  not 
even  old  enough  to  be  motherly ;  having  given  a  steady 
rebuke  to  habits  of  speech  so  at  variance  with  vay  own 
ideas,  these  rough  men,  who  had  "  panned  out  more  gold 
than  you  ever  saw,"  had  been  touched  to  their  hearts'  core 
by  the  fact  that  they  had  behaved  badly  to  ladies  who  were 
alone.  That  gallant,  generous  and  manly  impulse  to  protect 
a  woman,  had  transformed  these  men  into  patient,  pains- 
taking, self-sacrificing  natures,  that  seemed  new  even  to 
themselves.  Among  this  rough  set  I  asked  no  greater  right 
for  my  sex  than  to  look  to  them  for  jprotection.  A  woman 
can  measure  the  deference  they  must  pay,  and  she  will 
receive  her  full  allowance.  Indeed,  one  of  the  most  absurd 
things  happened  in  the  night,  and  will  bear  telling.  A 
Mrs.  Jackson  came  on  board  after  eleven  at  night,  and  find- 
ing that  one  of  these  miners  was  an  acquaintance  of  hers, 
she  sent  word  by  the  porter  that  she  would  be  glad  to  have 
him  exchange  berths,  as  hers  was  not  so  pleasant.  The 
man  got  up  and  made  every  arrangement  for  her  comfort. 
After  she  retired,  he  found  that  the  only  position  she  was 
entitled  to  was  a  single  narrow  seat.  That  woman  was  a 
fraud. 

For  hours  we  sat  on  the  platform  wrapped  in  our  heavy 
shawls  and  furs,  watching  the  various  beautiful  hills  and 
valleys,  until  we  found  the  whole  party  quieted  and  sub- 
dued— indeed  every  heart  intuitively 

' '  Looked  from  Nature 
Up  to  Nature's  God." 


TRIP  TO   CALIFORNIA.  145 

This  nia}'  be  the  highest  Pantheism.  We  know  it  is  not 
all  the  worship  God  orders  us  to  pa}',  but  in  His  works, 
standing  face  to  face  with  Him  and  beholding  His  power 
our  souls  respond. 

Until  ten  a.  m.  it  has  been  bitterly  cold,  but  as  we  begin 
to  descend,  the  air  grows  warm,  and  the  verdure  is  glorious. 
At  two  o'clock  we  reached  Sacramento,  and  were  hot  as  in 
the  hottest  dav  of  summer.  Plere  Rev.  Mr.  C.  left  us  for  a 
few  days,  and  we  solaced  ourselves  with  strawberries.  At 
eight  o'clock  we  were  in  Oakland,  which  is  the  Brooklyn  of 
San  Francisco.  Our  train  had  picked  up  about  six  immense 
picnic  parties,  and  we  were  a  long  time  getting  on  board 
of  the  large  ferry.  May  day  is  truly  May  day  in  this  part 
of  the  country.  As  we  crossed  the  ba}'  the  brightness  of 
the  great  city  shone  over  the  water  toward  us,  and  the  cool 
salt  breeze  subjected  us  once  more  to  a  change  of  tempera- 
ture. The  effect  of  the  many  lights  gleaming  from  the 
depots,  wharfs  and  hills  of  San  Francisco,  was  most  beauti- 
ful, sometimes  forming  a  glowing  crescent,  at  other,  squares 
and  parallels,  and  flashing  like  so  many  brilliant  stars 
against  the  deep  blue  background  of  the  night.  But,  oh, 
I  low  weary  we  were  ;  if  I  had  been  a  foot  shorter  and 
weighed  fifty  pounds  less,  I  should  have  invited  "big  Mr. 
Miner"  to  carry  me  on  shore.  As  it  was  I  summoned  all 
my  energy,  and  reached  the  coach  of  the  Gratul  Hotel.  At 
this  point  I  parted  with  Bessie,  Mr.  W.  and  Mr.  C.  going 
with  me.  A  half  an  hour  more  found  me  taking  "  mine 
ease  in  mine  inn."  Elegant  ajjartments  faded  into  insignif- 
icance before  the  more  luxurious  dressing-room,  with  hot, 
cold  and  shower  baths  awaiting  me.  By  the  time  I  had 
effected  a  radical  renovation  of  skin  and  change  of  garments, 
I  was  prepared  to  enjoy  the  French  chocolate,  strawberries 
and    cream   sent  to  my  room    at  ten    i'.  m.     Then  my  head 


146  MRS.    MORSK  STEWART. 

rested  on  a  genuine  pillow,  and  for  eight  hours  I  slept  the 
sleep  of  the  just. 

San  Fkancisco,  Thursday,  May  2. — The  day  has  been 
brislit  with  friends.  Since  breakfast  1  have  received  one 
perpetual  and  prolonged  welcome  from  those  who  had  pre- 
ceded me  to  California.  Ladies  and  gentlemen  who  knew 
me  or  mine  ten,  fifteen,  twenty-five,  and  even  thirty  years 
ago,  ignored  the  time  and  distance  that  had  intervened,  and 
talked  to  me  of  "  Your  father's  house  "  and  "  Your  hus- 
band's boyhood"  as  things  of  yesterday.  Perhaps,  had  we 
been  dwelling  side  by  side  all  these  years  in  old  Detroit,  we 
would  have  drifted  far  apart ;  as  it  was,  friendship  and 
memory  bridged  the  past,  and  we  stood  nearer  to  each  other 
for  the  very  mountains  that  had  separated  us. 

Friday,  May  3. — This  morning  Bessie  and  her  father 
came  for  me,  and  I  saw  some  city  wonders,  such  as  the 
Bank  of  California,  Chi  Lung's  and  many  other  Chinese 
stores  full  of  curious  and  undesirable  stuff  from  the  Celes- 
tial kingdom.  But  the  most  astonishing  sight  of  all  is  Cal- 
ifornia street  at  noon.  There  is  an  immense  mining  excite- 
ment just  at  this  time.  Every  man  in  the  city  draws  nigh 
this  hour  to  the  place  where  so  much  capital  is  changing 
hands — nay,  where  fortunes  are  lost  or  made.  However, 
only  the  latter  are  reported  ;  those  who  have  been  worsted 
in  this  little  encounter  of  wits  retire  to  the  extremest  seclu- 
sion of  private  life,  and  are  seen  no  more  for  many  a  long 
day.  One  Michigan  young  man  had  made  $300,000,  and 
was  tossing  his  gains  hither  and  thither  amongst  his  family. 
Provident,  far-sighted  sisters  were  laying  in  sewing  machines 
and  other  comforts  in  adversity,  foreseeing  some  day  a 
change  in  the  balance  on  the  bank  book.  Having  been 
instructed  that  the  thing  to  do  was  to  lunch  at  Solomon's 
restaurant,  on  California  street,  I  allowed  myself  to  be  car- 


* 


TRIP   TO   CALIFOKNIA.  147 

ried  in  by  the  crowd.     Lunch  fs  the  noon  meal  of  Califor- 
nia, and  consists  of  a  cup  of  tea.     Every  man  drinks  a  cup 
of  tlie  beverage  that  cheers,  even  if  they  follow  it  in  ten 
minutes   with   a   glass   that    intoxicates.      Then   comes   a 
salade,  or  dish  of  California  oysters,  and  a  piece  of  pie  or 
cake.     These  same  bivalves  are  the  oddest  cross  between  a 
clam  and  the  smallest  of  small  oysters ;  I  caimot  say  they 
are   nice.     Sometimes  shrimps  are  substituted  for   salade, 
and  you  pick  the  head  and  tail  off  and  eat  the  inside  of  the 
insect  without  flinching  ;  they  taste  like  nuts,  but  owing  to 
their   legs  and  tenebrse  generally,  every  one  1  swallowed 
was  evidence  of  a  victory  over  a  squeamish  and  rebellious 
stomach.     Such  a   "feed"  as  this  lunch  room  presented, 
with  all  its  hurrying,  noisy  crowd  of  hungry,  hasty  men,  I 
never  saw  but  once  before,  and  that  was  when  an  Illinois 
brother  stood  at  one  end  of  a  fenced-off  corner  of  the  field 
and  called,  "Pig!  pig!!  pig!!!"     San   Francisco   has   all 
the  appliances  of  a  great  city.     It  is  a  great  city  ;  its  harbor 
and  natural  position  make  it  a  great  center  of  transfer.     At 
the   Grand  Hotel  the  tables  are  filled  with  the  represent- 
atives  from   the   ends   of   the   earth— England,    Scotland, 
France,  Eussia,  Japan,  all  the  isles  of  the  sea,  Spain,  Por- 
tugal, China,  South  America,  in  short,  every  country  on  the 
face  of  the  globe,  and  every  State  of  the  United  States 
sends  a  traveler  to  leave  his  record  on  tlie  hotel  register. 
In  some  respects  the  city  looks  like  New  York  of  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago,  but  it  has  a  climate  of  its  own  that  one 
ought  to  desire  never  to  disseminate.     For   instance,  this 
morning  I  rose  and  dressed  with  a  sense  of  chilliness  that 
at  home  one  would  have  counteracted  by  a  good  fire.     In 
tlie  hotel  drawing  room  I  tried  to  warm  myself  by  the  fire 
in  the  grate,  but  there  was  something  (other  than  cold)  that 
took  the  life  out  of  any  heat  the  glowing  coals  sent  out. 


148  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

In  five  minutes  my  bonnet  and  thick  dress  were  on,  and  the 
street  and  the  sunsliine  soon  warmed  me  through  and 
through.  Down  Montgomery  street  we  sailed,  with  para- 
sols up  and  summer  in  the  breeze,  but  turning  to  go  across 
the  city  a  wind  struck  us  like  a  squall — sun  umbrellas  col- 
lapsed, and  we  shivered  in  the  wind  for  several  blocks — the 
biting,  cutting,  sandy  draft  that  swept  over  us,  penetrated 
to  the  marrow  of  oar  bones,  and  when  we  emerged  from 
the  shadow  of  the  houses  into  the  sunlight  it  was  as  if  one 
had  passed  through  a  tunnel.  The  sky  is  blue  and  beautiful 
and  the  sea  breeze  invigorating.  Miles  we  walked  without 
thinking  of  being  fatigued,  and  though  we  were  so  chilled 
neither  of  us  feel  that  we  have  taken  cold.  They  tell  me 
lungs  and  bronchial  tubes  give  way  after  lengthened  expos- 
ure to  this  sort  of  "  variety." 

Saturday,  May  4. — This  morning  Mr.  C.  dashed  into  the 
breakfast  room  with  word  that  "They  were  all  ready  to 
drive  out  to  the  ClifE  House — would  I  join  them  ? "  It 
was  a  charming  drive  in  a  handsome  open  beach  wagon, 
with  plenty  of  robes,  and  we  were  swept  over  the  ground 
by  a  gay  pair  of  bays.  All  the  way  out  to  this  celebrated 
resort  we  saw  placards  and  painted  boards  announcing, 
"  Homestead  lots  for  sale,"  "  Building  lots  for  sale  on 
time,"  etc.,  and  all  owned  by  various  stock  companies. 
Everything  is  a  stock  company,  whether  a  mine,  a  moun- 
tain, or  a  marsh,  and  the  companies  are  invariably  sold  out 
on  a  mortgage.  If  any  one  wanted  a  homestead  on  this 
sand-barren  his  ambition  was  not  great ;  for  my  own  part  I 
found  the  idea  of  settling  for  life  in  such  a  windy  wilder- 
ness very  depressing.  Three  miles  brought  us  to  the  bleak- 
est of  bleak  look-outs,  a  square  frame  hotel  on  the  top  (or 
rather  edge)  of  the  cliff ;  here  we  went  out  on  a  balcony 
where  the  wind   tore  one's  shawls,  blew  the  sight  out  of 


TRIP   TO    CALIFORNIA.  149 

one's  eyes,  sent  one's  veil  up  into  the  air  in  a  manner  tliat 
added  three  feet  to  one's  stature,  kept  one  in  fear  and  trem- 
bling that  each  minute  every  rag  of  skirt  and  canvas  would 
be  blown  away  and  you  be  left  clutching  your  skin  to  keep 
that  on.  Under  these  pleasant  circumstances  we  watched 
"  the  sea-lions  of  San  Francisco  Bay  "  as  they  climbed  upon 
the  island  of  rocks  that  the  Legislature  of  California  has  set 
apart  for  their  especial  sporting  ground.  They  are  ugly, 
slippery,  ungainly  looking,  black  or  tan  colored  animals, 
that  remind  one  of  the  "half  horse  half  alligator "  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  and  have  huge  flappers  that  are  neither 
legs  nor  fins,  but  serve  in  the  capacity  of  both  ;  unlike 
seals  they  have  no  fur— only  a  black  hide  with  here  and 
there  a  few  coarse  short  hairs  upon  it.  The  view  of  the  bay 
is  exceedingly  fine,  and  it  was  funny  to  see  the  little  fish- 
ing smacks  scudding  up  and  down,  top-heavy  with  their 
huge  lateen  sails,  and  as  indifferent  to  the  hurricane  that 
was  blowing  us  about  as  the  very  sea-gulls  themselves. 

After  awhile  the  "breeze"  subsided  a  little,  the  tide 
went  out,  and  we  took  to  the  carriage  again,  and  went 
down  on  to  the  beach  for  a  longer  drive.  Mr.  W.  was  told 
to  "  take  the  first  road  to  the  right  when  he  turned,  and  that 
would  give  us  a  pleasant  view  of  another  portion  of  coun- 
trv,"  but  the  wet  sand  made  snch  a  delightful  road-bed,  and 
the  outgoing  water  had  left  all  so  beautifully  swept  and 
garnished,  that  we  missed  our  "first  turning,"  and  went  on 
and  on  like  the  children  in  a  fairy  talc.  At  last  we  saw 
something  like  a  road  up  which  we  i)assed,  and  drove 
through  beds  and  fields  of  flowers— purple,  bine,  gold  and 
scarlet  flamed  on  the  hill-sides,  and  we  gathered  and  gath- 
ered and  gathered,  stopping  now  here,  now  there,  till 
the  carriai'e  was  full.  After  awhile  we  struck  a  little 
marshy  sweep,  green  an(J   fresh  as  a  meadow — in  fact  to  all 


150  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

appearances  it  was  like  the  Happy  Valley  that  Rasselas, 
prince  of  Abyssinia,  lit  upon  so  suddenly.  Step  by  step 
the  trace  of  our  road  became  fainter  and  j^et  more  faint. 
The  Eev.  Mr.  C.  looked  at  his  watch — it  was  two  o'clock ; 
at  four  he  must  take  the  boat  to  go  and  preach  at  Yallejo ; 
and  where  were  we  ?  Ko  house  in  sight,  only  the  glorious 
flower-covered  hills  and  the  green  pastures  of  as  still  a  spot 
of  earth  as  one  could  desire  to  see,  and  the  road  gone. 
There  was  nothing  for  us  but  to  let  the  horses  find  their 
own  way,  which  in  a  very  few  moments  they  did,  and  once 
more  we  saw  traces  of  wheels.  After  this  we  bowled 
forward  till  we  observed  that  sure  sign  of  habitation,  a 
fence.  An  unfortunate  cow  had  slid  her  head  between  the 
bars  and  in  twenty  minutes  she  would  have  been  a  strangled 
creature,  had  not  Mr.  W.  stopped  the  horses  and  the  two 
Mr.  C.'s  broken  the  board  loose.  For  an  hour  and  a  half 
we  spun  over  the  ground,  stimulated  by  the  laudable  desire 
to  make  up  for  the  time  lost  in  rescuing  the  cow  and  get 
Mr.  C.  to  the  Yallejo  boat,  whicli  was  just  accomplished. 
At  four  we  drove  up  to  the  Grand,  as  tired  and  pleased  a 
party  of  pleasure  seekers  as. any  one  would  wish  to  see. 

Sunday,  May  5. — This  morning  Major  IST.  and  Miss  W. 
came  for  me  to  go  and  hear  Dr.  Lyman,  rector  of  Trinity 
church.  The  red  wood  of  California,  wliich  works  like 
pine  but  resembles  black  walnut  in  color,  was  employed 
externally  and  internally  in  the  construction  of  the  edifice, 
and  the  efifect,  though  somewhat  somber,  was  strikingly 
good.  It  was  communion  Sabbath,  and  the  service  quite 
irregular,  but  the  sermon  able,  full  of  thought,  and  expressed 
with  strength  and  clearness.  Miss  W.  lunched  with  rae, 
and  then,  wrapping  myself  up  to  meet  the  breeze  of  the 
harbor,  we  started  for  Angel  Island.  My  young  friend 
always  suffered  from  sea-sickness  in  crossing  the  bay,  and 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  151 

this  occasion  was  no  exception;  how  the  cockle-sliell  of  a 
government  steamer  did  toss  about.  Angel  Island  is  the 
most  lovely  spot  of  its  kind  I  ever  saw ;  the  rocks,  and 
trees,  and  shrubs  and  turf  are  browner  and  greener  than 
elsewhere,  and  the  flowers  are  gorgeous.  At  General  "W.'s 
tliere  is  a  huge  hedge  of  geraniums  fifteen  feet  high,  and 
fuclisias  and  roses  as  immense  as  thej  are  brilliant,  while 
clumps  of  calla  lilies,  or  lilies  of  the  Kile,  as  we  called  them 
in  old  times,  reared  their  tall  stately  heads  on  every  side. 
But  the  flowers  are  hardy  children,  lacking  sadly  that  deli- 
cacy and  evanescent  beauty  that  distinguishes  them  with 
us,  A  rose  by  any  other  name  may  smell  as  sweet,  but  a 
California  blossom  makes  but  scant  appeal  to  our  sensibil- 
ities. 

The  views  of  the  bay  from  this  point  are  very  fine. 
From  the  eastern  side  one  looks  out  at  the  Golden  Gate, 
and  throuo-h  that  wondrous  door  sees  the  sea  that  runs 
round  all  the  world,  and  heart  and  soul  goes  drifting 
through  those  mysterious  portals  out  upon  the  wide  expanse 
to  where  the  heavens  take  you  in  ;  and  thus  you  dream,  till 
suddenly  a  miglity  east  wind  strikes  you  a  blow  so  pitiless 
and  fierce  that  you  wind  your  wraps  about  you  and  come 
down  from  that  pleasant  higher  life  to  the  petty  miseries  of 
existence.  After  sunset  we  gathered  round  the  fire  and 
spent  tlie  evening  recalling  the  histories  of  old  Detroit  and 
her  people ;  all  the  single  men  and  women  passed  in 
review — how  wliite  their  hair  had  grown,  and  all  that  sort 
of  thinir — and  then  the  married  folks,  and  their  sons  and 
daughters,  and  then  the  landmarks  of  our  river  and  its 
shore,  until  the  deepening  night  warned  us  to  bed. 

Monday,  May  G. — Came  back  to  my  liotel  this  morning 
at  ten  o'clock.  Saw  that  curious  rock  on  which  a  fortress 
and  its  attendant  men  and  works  had  been   established — 


152  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

Alcatray,  they  called  it — and  here,  too,  ou  soil  brought  far 
across  the  bay,  the  flowers  bloomed  and  sought  to  creep 
into  the  mouths  of  idle  cannon,  but  strict  military  rule  per- 
vades this  adamantine  resting  place,  and  no  such  follies  are 
permitted. 

Tuesday,  May  7. — Being  advised  to  sit  for  photographs 
because  of  the  atmosphere,  we  spent  the  morning  at  E.  & 
C.'s,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  have  obtained  a  good 
likeness.  From  the  photographers  we  went  to  the  princi- 
pal ladies'  charity  in  the  city,  the  Home  Protection  Society, 
which  is  conducted  upon  principles  very  nearly  resembling" 
those  which  govern  the  Reference  Committee  of  our  own 
Home  of  the  Friendless.  Such  a  task  as  it  was  to  get  up 
the  hill !  The  wind  is  a  perfect  prize  fighter,  and  throws 
dust,  and  sand,  and  grit  into  the  eyes  and  nostrils  in  a  man- 
ner not  conducive  to  peace  or  happiness,  nor  admissible  in 
the  rulings  of  "  the  ring."  On  this  occasion  it  knocked  me 
into  a  coal-heaver's  arms,  and  there,  gasping  and  breathless, 
I  anathematized  "  the  breeze."  As  to  the  institution,  it 
was  Board  meeting  day,  and  everything  was  in  the  most 
scrupulous  order.  The  ladies,  as  a  rule,  looked  cross  and 
exasperated  ;  it  may  be  the  wind  that  does  it,  but  as  a  gen- 
eral thing  the  lady  strangers  I  met  on  all  sides  were  quite  a 
contrast  to  the  gentlemen  ;  I  mean,  of  course,  those  of  the 
California  residents  to  whom  I  Avas  "  only  a  tourist."  Two 
patient  women  (the  wives  of  doctors)  were  an  honorable 
and  pleasant  exception  ;  with  one  of  these  I  had  a  few 
moments'  intelliijent  conversation  as  to  the  workings  of 
their  Home. 

Wednesday,  May  8. — Bessie,  Mr.  C,  Mr.  W.  and  myself 
left  for  the  Geysers  at  four  p.  m.  on  the  Vallejo  boat,  a  fine 
steamer  that  plows  "the  bay."  Through  the  enterprise  of 
Mr.  C.  we  were  invited   to  go  up   into  the  wheel  house. 


i 


r^a- 


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e.^'^t^l 


z^ 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  153 

which  we  did,  and  sat  there  looking  out  with  more  comfort 
and  pleasure  than  we  had  found  anywhere  else  upon  that 
broad  expanse  of  water.  "We  saw  Goat  Island,  over  which 
Congress  has  "  muckled"  for  so  many  months,  and  all  the 
isles  and  channels  of  this  wonderful  harbor,  the  captain  and 
helmsman  vieing  with  each  other  in  giving  us  all  the  infor- 
mation in  their  power.  Vallejo  is  a  bright  little  town 
where  the  main  depot  of  Napa  Yalley  Railroad  is  placed. 
The  cars  swept  us  steadily  through  that  lovely  Napa  Val- 
ley, the  garden  spot  of  California — vineyards,  orchards, 
wheat  fields,  well-tilled  earth,  and  comfortable,  prosperous 
looking  houses  and  farms  were  all  that  was  to  be  seen,  no 
break  in  the  long  line  of  luxuriant  cultivation.  At  eight 
o'clock  we  reached  Calitoga  Springs,  a  very  bright  and  gay 
resting  place,  from  which  one  goes  on  to  the  Geysers  or 
over  to  the  Petrified  Forests.  It  has  a  hotel,  with  a  large 
number  of  cottages,  every  one  of  which  was  filled.  We 
went  off  with  a  Mrs.  S.  and  her  daughter  and  our  own 
young  gentlemen,  to  one,  and  in  ten  minutes  we  were  house- 
keeping in  the  most  agreeable  fashion.  Six  of  us  gathered 
into  our  little  parlor,  and  felt  more  at  home  than  we  had 
done  since  we  left  "  the  States."  The  springs  here  are  sul- 
phurous in  character,  and  spring  from  the  earth  at  almost 
boiling  heat.  By  the  addition  of  a  little  salt  and  pepper  to 
the  water,  they  give  you  what  they  call  chicken  soup  ;  it  is 
an  odd  caricature  of  the  genuine  article — possibly  the  light 
lunch  of  the  infernal  regions,  who  knows?  After  we 
retired,  the  mellifluous  music  of  the  insect  world,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  presented  their  bills,  and  drew  drafts, 
reminded  me  of  the  speech  of  an  Irish  man  servant,  who 
had  gone  with  the  children  and  myself  on  some  picnic 
excursion.     He  used  his  hands  and  hat  for  some  time  to 


16 


154  MRS.    MORSE  STEWART. 

ward  oflf  those  insidious  and  nagging  pests,  until  at  last  lie 
broke  forth,  "  These  miskeeters  is  hostile.^' 

Thursday,  May  9,  at  7.30  a.  m.,  Foss,  the  celebrated  whip 
of  these  regions,  was  at  the  door  with  his  various  coaches, 
open  C  spring  wagons,  strong  enough  to  bear  the  tremen- 
dous driving  they  get.  An  immense  party  (at  least  fifty) 
filled  his  vehicles  to  overflowing,  and  in  ten  minutes  we 
were  en  route.  How  shall  I  describe  the  beauty  of  this 
drive,  how  give  any  idea  of  the  sweep  and  dash  of  our 
coach  train  through  the  valleys  of  Russian  River,  Santa 
Rosa,  and  Retain  ma,  how  tell  of  the  crowning  view  of  all 
these  lovely  hills  and  ravines  ?  Language  is  so  poor,  my 
own  gift  so  unsatisfactory,  that  I  dare  not  attempt  it.  All 
one  saw,  when  the  train  stopped  and  we  looked  back  and 
down  "  upon  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of 
them,"  is  something  to  be  remembered,  but  even  an  artist 
could  not  record  it.  Up  to  this  point  we  had  climbed 
patiently ;  after  this  the  descent  began,  and  the  manner  in 
which  our  six  horses  took  us  round  curves  and  corners  at  a 
2.40  pace,  would  have  shaken  tlie  nerves  of  anxious  mor- 
tals. Here  we  began  to  see  the  bright  silver  thread  of 
water  that  gleamed  gaily  at  the  bottom  of  a  canon  four  or 
five  hundred  feet  deep  ;  in  some  places  there  was  just  one 
inch  of  road  beyond  our  wheels,  and  the  other  side  was  a 
pitiless  mass  of  rock.  Following  the  edge  of  the  canon, 
at  the  bottom  of  which  flowed  the  bright  stream,  by  one 
o'clock  we  came  within  sound  of  a  fearful  whistle.  This 
was  but  a  bit  of  iron  pipe  laid  at  the  opening  in  the  earth, 
from  which  a  jet  of  hot  air  and  vapor  escaped.  The  thing 
moaned  or  shrieked  just  as  the  evil  spirit  within  opened  or 
shut  this  natural  safety  valve.  Soon  we  were  in  sight  of 
the  little  hotel  which  is  tucked  away  under  the  shadow  of 
a  tremendous  rocky  steep,  and  which  offered  us  lunch  and  a 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  155 

comfortable  bed  for  a  nap  ere  we  set  out  to  see  the  Geysers. 
At  five  o'clock  the  guides  come  to  take  the  party  up  the 
canon  to  where  the  Ge3'sers  proper,  make  their  explosive 
appearance.  The  path  from  the  hotel  to  the  bright,  gay 
little  stream  is  very  lovely  ;  trees,  shrubs  and  grass,  brilliant 
as  emeralds,  lined  the  way.  The  bed  and  sides  of  this 
water  course  are  studded  with  rocks  in  every  picturesque 
form  possible,  and,  having  preceded  the  part}'  by  at  least 
half  an  hour,  I  spent  the  time  till  their  arrival  drinking  in 
the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  scene.  But  soon  the  order 
"forward  march"  was  issued,  and  seizing  my  climbing 
staff  started  with  the  rest  up  an  extremely  narrow  canon, 
which  was  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  huge  mass  of  rock 
cleft  in  twain  to  the  depth  of  hundreds  of  feet.  A  minute, 
sluggish,  yellow  and  green  stream  of  water,  odorous  of  sul- 
phur, magnesia,  and  a  thousand  and  one  ill  smelling  min- 
eral compounds,  slid  and  stumbled  among  the  filthy  rocks 
over  which  we  climbed.  Sweeping  down  the  canon  came 
the  pestiferous  breath  of  devils  and  damned  spirits,  and  my 
face  evidently  grew  white  and  agonized  by  the  heat  and 
stench  from  which  we  suffered,  for  the  guide  came  up  to 
me  and  said,  with  anxious  kindness,  "Madam,  there  was  a 
lady  fainted  in  the  canon  yesterday."  "  I  do  not  propose 
to  faint;  you  need  be  under  no  apprehension,"  was  my 
prompt  reply.  "She  weighed  full  two  hundred  pounds, 
and  we  carried  her  back  to  the  Iiotel;  it  was  a  tough  job, 
but  we  can  do  it."  And  as  I  looked  back  upon  the  devi- 
ous path  by  which  we  had  come,  I  was  struck  with  the 
herculean  labor  it  must  have  been.  The  stones  under  our 
feet  were  burning  hot,  and  the  water  boiling;  where  it 
touched  your  skirts  or  soles  of  your  boots,  it  seemed  to  eat 
like  some  strong  acid ;  and  at  various  holes  in  the  earth  we 
stopped  to  look  and  listen.     One  was  the  Devil's  Cauldron, 


156  MRS,    MORSE   STEWART. 

and  it  bubbled  and  thumped,  and  poured  out  steam  and 
sulphur,  till  our  climbing  staffs  grew  burning  hot  where 
they  had  been  thrust  into  the  ground.  The  rocks  on  each 
side  of  us  radiated  the  heat  they  had  gathered  from  the 
sun.  The  path  was  always  upward  ;  and  again  the  guide 
reminded  me  of  the  ladv  who  had  fainted.  On  the  whole, 
I  began  to  think  that  she  was  a  wise  woman,  and  took  a 
rather  sensible  method  of  getting  out  of  difficulty.  Rest 
I  .must,  so  letting  the  remainder  of  the  party  iile  past  me, 
I  seated  myself  on  a  boulder,  but  soon  discovered  by  an 
intolerable  steam  that  rose  within  my  skirts  that  I  was  over 
a  point  of  escape  for  the  vapors  of  the  earth.  On  my  own 
responsibility  I  named  it  the  Devil's  Register.  Everything 
was  supposed  to  belong  to  his  Satanic  majest3\  We  saw 
the  Devil's  Wash  Pot,  and  he  no  more  thinks  of  keeping 
it  covered  than  your  cook  does  her  boiler  on  a  Monday. 
We  heard  the  clothes  giving  out  that  peculiar  bubble  and 
squeaking  sound  that  evidently  characterizes  clothes  on 
wash  day  in  the  infernal  regions  as  well  as  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.  Then  came  his  Kettle  and  Pot,  and  Chimney, 
and  Inkstand,  and  the  Witches'  Cauldron,  and  then  a  high 
projecting  rock  that  was  called  his  Pulpit,  and  to  which  we 
clambered  and  looked  down  upon  the  boiling,  steaming, 
seething  sides  of  the  canon.  The  sight  was  horrible ;  it 
seemed  a  very  "  valley  of  death." 

Our  way  homeward  was  by  another  path,  leading  us 
through  pleasant  woods  and  over  sparkling  streams,  though 
even  on  this  route  we  did  not  escape  the  presence  of  the 
possessions  of  the  Prince  of  the  Powers  of  Darkness ;  for 
we  saw  his  Steamboat,  and  Rocking  Chair,  and  Office,  and 
Bath,  heard  constantly  the  wild  shrieks  of  his  whistles, 
and  felt  the  whole  earth  beneath  our  feet  shaken  by  the 
mighty   throbs    of    the   volcanic    forces    imprisoned   within 


TRIJ'   TO   CALIFORNIA.  157 

it.  Snakes  sunned  themselves  and  warmed  their  chilly 
scales  about  the  craters  of  these  semi-extinct  volcanoes. 
Faugh,  the  old  theories  of  "hell  being  the  center  of  the 
earth."  What  is  to  prevent  tremendous  explosions  in  this 
region  ?  Savans  may  know,  but  for  my  own  part  I  should 
be  continually  anticipating  "  a  grand  blow-out." 

Friday,  May  10, — We  were  up  betimes  and  retraced  the 
road  of  yesterday,  with  the  additional  trips  of  the  day 
before — that  is  to  say,  we  traveled  twenty-five  miles  by  stage, 
forty-two  by  cars,  and  twenty-three  by  steamboat,  and  were 
en  voyage  from  eight  a.  m.  till  eight  p.  m.,  reaching  the  Grand 
in  time  to  find  the  D.'s  had  gone  out  for  the  evening.  The 
clerk  came  and  told  me  he  had  taken  good  care  of  them, 
giving  them,  according  to  promise,  "  the  nicest  of  rooms," 
etc;  "  would  send  the  porter  up  with  my  bags  and  mail." 
This  official,  who  was  one  of  the  best-hearted  of  Irishmen, 
soon  appeared  and  led  the  way  to  an  upper  story — guests 
being  invariably  treated  to  the  lowest  flat  first,  and  on  each 
successive  return  promoted  higher  and  higher.  I  followed 
John  O'Brien  with  flying  feet,  and  a  heart  "mighty"  anx- 
ious for  news  from  home.  In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell 
it  he  handed  me  my  four  letters,  the  topmost  one  of  all  being 
a  telegram.  Oh,  the  deadly  look  of  that  envelope  !  In  one 
second  I  lived  over  the  whole  length  of  my  journey,  "  three 
thousand  miles;"  and  who  was  sick  or  dying?  I  could  not 
open  the  thing;  the  light  went  out  of  my  eyes  and  a  sensa- 
tion that  "  nothing  made  any  matter  "  stole  over  my  senses. 
In  an  instant  the  Irishman's  strong,  rough  hand  seized  nio 
by  the  shoulder,  and  with  a  pretty  sharp  shake  he  said  :  "  I 
wouldn't,  mem  ;  yez  haven't  looked  at  it  yit.  Take  it  easy," 
And  he  continued  to  grip  me  Avith  the  ])inch  of  a  vise. 
Somehow  the  thing  was  opened  and  my  dazed  eyes  read  : 

"  Train  delayed  ;  have  rooms  ready.— A.  H.  D." 


158  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

This  interesting  missive  ought  to  have  reached  me  Wed- 
nesday at  two  p.  M.,  and  with  the  proverbial  speed  of  a  tele- 
gram it  had  been  presented  Saturday  night.  After  this  there 
was  neither  "sleep  to  my  eyes  nor  slumber  to  mine  eyelids." 
For  many  a  long  hour  surging  back  came  all  the  memories 
of  home — of  helpless  little  children  practically  motherless, 
of  duties  left  undone,  all  my  sins  of  omission  and  commis- 
sion— and  sackcloth  and  ashes  I  knew  would  be  every-day 
wear  for  some  time  to  come.  It  may  be  but  one  step  from 
the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  but  I  generally  break  my 
neck  takinsj  it. 

Saturday,  May  11. — Was  so  delighted  to  see  the  D.'s  at 
last,  but  cannot  get  over  the  fright  of  last  night — 

' '  For  long,  long  after  the  storm  had  passed 
Rolls  the  turbid  and  turbulent  billow." 

This  afternoon  we  went  to  Woodward  Gardens,  which  is 
a  very  popular  place  of  resort  for  San  Francisco  people  and 
their  children.  The  grounds  are  prettily  laid  out,  and  there 
is  a  large  hall  with  a  smooth  floor  where,  in  the  absence  of 
genuine  ice,  the  young  folks  disport  themselves  with  agility 
and  ease  upon  parlor  skates.  Several  large  conservatories 
are  here  and  thei'e  about  the  entrance  gate,  and  through 
these  we  rambled  with  all  the  pleasure  and  delight  that  is 
always  born  of  flowers.  A  rather  indifferent  art  gallery 
shows  that  there  is  a  taste  for  the  beautiful,  although  as  yet 
it  is  somewhat  unformed.  Then  we  went  to  "  see  the  ani- 
mals," and  found  a  large  collection  of  handsome,  well-kept 
beasts,  birds  and  reptiles  that  would  have  been  a  credit 
anywhere.  The  collection  of  monkeys  was  the  largest  and 
best  it  was  ever  my  good  fortune  to  see,  and  though  they 
are  such  a  funny  travesty  upon  mankind  they  have  a  fasci- 
nation of  their  own.  The  bears  of  California  are  quite  a 
study,  and  every  shade  and  variety  are  to  be  found  here. 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  159 

There  is  a  miniature  lake,  very  petite,  for  which  some 
Yankee  lias  constructed  a  circular  boat.  Crowds  of  children 
seize  the  oars  and  propel  it  around  !  — if  one  can  use  such  a 
term — for  hours  at  a  time.  At  four  we  went  to  see  the  sea 
lions  fed.  A  near  view  of  this  unwieldy,  curious  creature, 
that  seems  to  be  "  neither  fish,  flesh,  nor  good  herring,"  gave 
us  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  peculiarity  of  its  furless 
skin,  its  frisky  way  of  diving  and  swimming  after  its  food, 
the  peculiar  facility  with  which  it  made  legs  of  its  fins  and 
fins  of  its  legs,  which  after  all  were  only  a  kind  of  flapper  ; 
and  finally,  when  the  creature  hoisted  himself  up  on  to  the 
rocks,  where  he  sat  like  a  smooth,  sleek,  well  fed  London 
alderman,  and  surveyed  the  admiring  audience  with  all  the 
ease  and  intelligence  of  one  accustomed  to  the  best  society, 
we  joined  with  a  couple  of  hundred  people  in  giving  him  a 
hearty  round  of  applause. 

Sunday,  May  12. — This  morning  Mrs.  C.  S.  came  for 
me  to  go  with  her  to  hear  the  Kev.  Dr.  Scott,  an  old  time 
Presbyterian,  who  gallantly  bears  up  against  wind  and  tide 
the  banner  of  the  cross,  and  cheers  his  followers  on  in  that 
"  good  fight "  which  makes  every  thorough  Christian  a 
warrior.  It  was  communion  season,  and  he  blended  with 
his  showing  of  the  love  of  Christ  the  duty  of  heart  and 
hand  service  to  that  Divine  Master.  When  one  after 
another  responded  to  their  names  as  "  having  been  admitted 
to  the  fellowship  of  this  church  upon  the  profession  of 
their  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,"  I  saw  among  them  elderly 
men  who  at  last  had  come  out  publicly  on  the  Lord's  side — 
whose  faces  looked  as  if  they  were  still  blanched  with  the 
conflict  against  sin  and  Satan  ;  men  who  would  henceforth 
for  all  time  in  this  world  have  the  battle  of  righteous  Lot  to 
fight  against  the  tide  of  iniquity  that  sets  in  upon  a  good 
man  in  a  great  cit}'.     After  service  Mrs.  S.  introduced  me 


160  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

to  several  persons,  adding  all  the  "forbears'*  of  my  God- 
loving,  God-fearing  ancestry,  so  that  to  the  general  polite- 
ness and  hospitality  that  seems  first  nature  in  a  Californian, 
was  added  a  sonl-warmth  that  seemed  to  say,  "  Oh,  she 
belongs  to  us." 

It  was  12:30  p.  m.,  and  we  would  be  just  in  time  for  Dr. 
Loomis'  Chinese  Sabbath  School,  so  through  their  quarter 
we  wended  our  way.  They  are  a  squalid  set,  reminding 
one  forcibly  of  Anne  Maloney's  description  : 

"  There  stood  a  rale  haytlien  Chineeser,  a  grinnin'  like 
he'd  just  come  off  a  tay  box :  if  you'll  belave  me  the  cray- 
ther  was  that  yellow  it  'ud  sicken  you  to  see  him,  and  sorra 
a  stitch  was  on  him  but  a  black  night  gown  over  his  trows- 
ers,  and  the  front  of  his  head  shaved  claner  than  a  copper 
biler,  and  a  black  tail  a  hangin'  down  from  it  behind,  wid 
his  two  feet  stood  into  the  heathenestest  shoes  you  ever  sit 
your  eyes  on," 

On  the  sidewalks  were  seated  shoemakers,  tailors,  tink- 
ers, confectioners,  etc.,  all  with  their  kits  and  in  the  full 
practice  of  their  various  avocations.  When  we  entered  the 
Sabbath  School  we  found  that  May  and  June  being  consid- 
ered the  unpleasant  season  of  San  Francisco,  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  teachers  had  left  the  city.  Not  being  averse  to 
work  I  seated  myself  next  to  two  young  boys  of  twelve  and 
thirteen,  and  proposed  to  induce  them  to  learn  A ;  but  a 
Chinese  youth  of  seventeen  or  eighteen,  who  sat  in  the  seat 
back,  whipped  out  his  book  and  pencil,  and  thrusting  it 
into  my  hand,  said,  "  Teachee  John,  Missis."  I  accord- 
ingly taught  John — all  about  a  horse.  He  could  spell  quite 
well,  and  read  after  a  fashion  that  promised  better  things ; 
his  pronunciation  was  good  and  accurate,  except  when  he 
undertook  to  say  the  word  kindly  ;  "  kang-ily,"  "kang-lee," 
was  as  near  as  he  could  g-et.     Of  course  the  essav  on  the 


TRIP   TO     CALIFORNIA.  161 

horse  was  the  stupidest  thing  possible,  and  began,  as  all 
children's  readers  do,  "  The  horse  is  an  animal."  "  Do  you 
know  what  animal  means,  John  ?"  "  Yes — dog,  cat,  robin, 
rabbit.''  Tlie  classification  of  the  robin  struck  me  as  pecu- 
liar, but  I  did  not  interfere.  When  we  reached  the  word 
"south"  (for  the  horse  was  "raised  at  the  South,  in  the 
State  of  Kentucky,"  according  to  this  intelligent  author), 
John  Chinaman  knew  all  the  points  of  the  compass  and  a 
great  many  more  things  besides.  He  saw  I  was  not  indig- 
enous to  the  soil,  and  inquired,  "  Where  you  live  ?  " 

Presently  Mr.  Loomis  called  the  school  to  order  for  the 
purpose  of  repeating  the  Lord's  prayer,  the  commandments, 
and  the  singing  of  some  hymns,  and  my  amiable  friend 
John,  having  sucked  the  juice  of  the  cocoanut  by  his  read- 
ing lesson,  remarked,  "  Good-bye  ;  got  no  time,"  and  started 
for  the  door.  All  at  once  he  wheeled  about,  gave  an  extra 
jerk  to  his  slack  trowsers,  and  said,  "  Tanke  ;  you  teached 
me  wery  blane;"  and  with  this  extraordinary  recognition 
of  my  services  he  rushed  off  to  another  school  round  the 
corner,  that  "went  in"  at  1:20,  where  no  doubt  he  had  a 
second  reading  lesson,  and  once  more  shied  the  command- 
ments. 

"  The  Heathen  Chinee  is  peculiar." 

Monday,  May  13. — This  morning  we  were  up  betimes, 
and  started  for  Los  Angeles  by  a  rather  common,  dirty 
side- wheel  steamer.  We  found  the  McM.'s  and  Mrs.  W. 
on  board,  so  we  made  quite  a  Detroit  party.  The  passen- 
gers consisted  of  all  sorts  and  kinds  of  people  jumbled 
together  indiscriminately.  One  knot  were  conversing  in 
German,  another  group  murmuring  Spanish,  a  third  were 
discouraged  Fi-enchmen  ;  at  the  steerage  end  a  few  sputter- 
ing Chinese  asserted  their  nationality,  and  a  man  and  his 
wife  from   Georgia  vainly  endeavored  to  still  the  wails  of 


162  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

seven  small  children  under  six  years  of  age ;  evidently 
they  proposed  to  people  the  peninsula  of  Lower  California. 
Col.  L.,  a  California  pioneer  who  had  been  a  waif  on  the 
stream  of  fortune,  was  being  instructed  in  English  grammar 
by  an  "  educated  "  German.  The  Golden  Gate  was  full  in 
sight,  and  the  sea-gulls  following  us  through  the  sunshine 
with  their  waving  wings,  or  floating  after  us  in  the  wake  of 
the  vessel,  made  deck  and  sea  seem  alive  and  wide  awake. 
The  day  was  glorious,  and  the  bay  full  of  ships  from 
every  clime  under  heaven.  More  than  an  hour  we  sat 
watching  the  sloping  declivities  that  bound  the  harbor,  and 
momentarily  nearing  the  channel  which  swept  out  between 
two  hills  that  are  each  crowned  with  a  lighthouse.  Land, 
sea,  and  the  arch  above  us  were  lovely  in  their  blue-green 
brightness;  life  was  worth  living,  and  even  death  lost  his 
terrors  as  we  strained  our  eyes  out  across  the  brilliant  ocean. 
The  tide  was  coming  in,  and  the  waters  struggled,  and 
dashed,  and  rushed  over  and  over  each  other,  and  tossed 
the  vessel  from  end  to  end  as  if  it  were  on  rockers.  One's 
spirits  rose,  and  with  them  courage,  hope,  enjoyment,  gave 
zest  to  the  beauty  and  novelty  of  the  situation.  "We  were 
crossing  the  bar;  that  barrier  passed,  the  wide  ocean  would 
be  our  home  for  days  to  come.  All  at  once  a  cross  sea 
caught  us ;  we  no  longer  rocked  up  and  down,  we  simply 
rolled  from  side  to  side.  While  this  continued,  people 
laughed  with  their  teeth  clenched ;  a  white  line  added 
intensity  to  the  expression  of  the  lips.  I  felt  as  if  I  were 
in  a  swino;',  and  the  swing  did  not  agree  with  me  ;  I  would 
shut  my  eyes  and  try  to  go  to  sleep.  Mr.  W.  inquired, 
"  Are  you  sleepy,  Mrs.  S.  ? "  and  I  responded,  "  Yery  ;  I 
think  I'll  go  and  take  a  nap  ;"  and  rising,  set  forth  to  my 
state  room.  My  head  floated  up  into  the  clouds  somewhere 
and  my  feet  went  entirely  astray.     Mr.  W.  sprang  forward 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  163 

and  offered  me  his  arm  ;  I  was  considerably  past  taking  it, 
or  anything  else,  but  made  my  way  after  a  fashion  to  that 
haven  of  hope,  my  berth.  On  the  wash  stand  of  our  room 
stood  a  bowl;  it  was  the  pole  star  of  my  destiny;  towards 
that  I  steered.  As  I  crossed  the  threshold  I  summoned  all 
my  energy,  and  with  a  gesture  worthy  of  a  tragedy  queen 
in  her  last  agonies  I  cried  out  to  Mr.  W.,  "  Go  away ! " 
And  he  went  away — that  well  young  man — in  an  agony  of 
mirth.  Hours  after,  when  he  looked  in  upon  ray  blanched 
cheeks  and  despairing  eyes,  and  inquired  whether  I  had 
"  taken  a  pleasant  nap  ? "  he  received  a  truthful  response, 
"  Thanks  ;  very  pleasant."  About  five  million  mischievous 
imps  gleamed  out  of  his  pupils,  and  he  bowed  himself  away 
amid  the  groans  of  the  suffering  ones  who  would  not  eat 
any  dinner,  and  had  already  set  their  breakfast  outside. 
After  this  I  thought  the  view  of  the  coast  line  was  better 
from  one's  berth.  I  also  read  one  sermon  and  a  novel ;  the 
scenes  of  one  became  inextricably  involved  with  the  senti- 
ments of  the  other,  and  vice  versa.  I  slept  '"'  off  and  on." 
The  groans  of  a  collapsed  old  gentleman  who  was  separated 
from  me  by  a  very  thin  board  partition  "  made  night  hid- 
eous." The  stewardess  came  in  the  morning  and  brougiit 
me  a  sea  biscuit,  and  I  disposed  of  it  as  the  old  woman  did 
the  corn  whisky. 

Tuesday  at  three  p.  m.,  when  we  reached  Santa  Barbara, 
I  was  very  glad.  It  is  not  only  a  lovely  town  but  also  a 
lovely  bay,  in  which  there  is  not  a  ripple.  My  taste  for  the 
sea  had  "  rather  lost  its  edge,"  as  they  say  out  here.  This 
little  town  is  flooded  with  invalids,  but  I  should  fancy  the 
sea  fogs  would  make  it  too  moist  a  climate  for  consump- 
tives and  rheumatic  people. 

Wednesday,  May  15. — Breakfasted  at  six  a.  m.,  because 
we  had  reached  San  Pedro  (a  name  but  no  town).    Here  we 


164  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

went  on  board  of  a  foolish  little  tug  which  spent  two  hours 
meandering  about  in  such  shallow  water  that  we  thought 
every  moment  we  would  run  ashore.  At  Wulmington, 
— a  mockery  of  a  village — we  took  the  cars  to  Los  Angeles 
which  place  we  reached  at  ten  a.  m.  At  the  Pico  House 
we  found  very  handsome  accommodations  and  a  genuine 
breakfast ;  it  was  eaten  with  a  relish  that  only  the  land 
can  give.  The  hotel  is  built  round  a  square  in  which  a 
fountain  plays  and  some  neglected  flowers  bloom.  Spanish 
seems  to  be  the  language  of  the  house,  although  many 
Americans  and  English  gentlemen  interested  in  the  mines 
are  to  be  seen  at  the  tables.  The  wool  of  Lower  California 
is  the  staple  commodity  of  all  the  section,  and  attracts  hun- 
dreds of  buyers,  sellers  and  speculators. 

Out  of  the  window  one  sees  the  customs  of  a  land  not 
our  own.  Dashing  down  a  street,  that  might  be  in  Spain, 
come  four  mounted  men ;  the  heavy  leather  worked  bri- 
dles, the  high-pommeled  saddles,  the  huge  stirrup  housings, 
give  a  foreign  look  to  the  shoeless  horses ;  and  the  sombre- 
ros, and  Spanish  or  Mexican  cut  to  the  clothes  of  the  men, 
the  red  bronze  of  their  complexions,  and  the  black  crisp 
curls,  lead  one  to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  either  they 
are  foreigners  or  you  are.  The  dust  in  the  street  is  eighteen 
inches  deep ;  the  sidewalks  are  covered  with  a  verandah  ; 
the  sun  beats  down  upon  the  adobe  houses  with  their  flat 
roofs  ;  the  Mexicans  tie  their  horses  to  a  long  wooden  bar 
in  front  of  the  little  wooden  church  opposite,  and  the  cow 
bell  in  its  cupola  clangs  out  a  summons  for  something.  It 
is  a  Spanish  funeral,  and  we  attend  without  a  moment's 
delay.  One  fat  and  two  lean  old  priests  go  through  the 
rites  of  the  Romish  church  in  Spanish-Latin,  or  Latin-Span- 
ish. The  grieving  donnas  of  the  dead  man's  family  weep 
honest  tears  on  black-bordered  handkerchiefs,  and  sit  behind 


TKir   TO   CALIFORNIA.  165 

English  crape  veils  of  established  thickness ;  their  dresses 
are  made  precisely  alike  (five  deep  folds  and  an  over  skirt); 
their  brown  wrists  shine  out  between  the  sleeves  and  their 
single-buttoned  gloves. 

Suddenly  there  is  a  great  stampede  of  the  nondescript 
vehicles  and  horsemen  at  the  door,  the  coffin  is  hurried  out, 
and  the  funeral  procession  dashes  off  around  the  corner, 
the  frantic  bell  clatters  off  in  a  paroxysm  of  claps,  and  I 
stand  alone  in  the  filthy  little  windowless  room  that  is  called 
a  church.  I  would  moralize,  but  what  is  the  use  ?  The 
Senor  had  been  the'  rich  owner  of  a  sheep  ranch,  and  his 
day  was  done.  Evidently  he  was  buried  with  more  dispatch 
than  he  had  ])racticed  in  life  ;  but  every  one  meant  well,  and 
that  covers  all  the  short  comings  of  the  age  now-a-days. 

Then  I  picked  mj'  way  down  a  Spanish  street  under  the 
long  verandas  and  saw  the  butcher,  the  baker  and  the  sad- 
dlemaker  pursuing  in  a  lazy  way  their  various  trades ; 
looked  curiously  into  tiie  sitting  room  or  parlor  of  one  of 
,  these  tradesmen  and  saw  a  white,  book  muslin  pillow  or  two 
on  the  lounge,  trimmed  with  cotton  lace  four  inches  deep  ; 
they  were  the  onl^'  clean-looking  things  on  the  premises. 
Walking  several  blocks  through  the  Spanish  quarter,  I 
made  my  way  into  one  little  shop  where  oranges  and  limes 
were  for  sale.  There  was  a  low  miserable  table  across  one 
end  of  the  room,  upon  which  was  spread  dried  herbs,  red 
peppers,  onions  and  beans,  all  of  which  were  so  covered 
with  dust  that  your  imagination  was  obliged  to  aid  your 
sight.  In  one  corner  four  bricks  w'ere  set  around  a  glowing 
charcoal  fire,  on  which  bubbled  and  hissed  two  little  tins 
that  looked  like  old  lobster  cans.  The  woman  proprietress 
of  this  not  attractive  menage  had  been  dried,  and  smoked, 
and  dusted  through  successive  cycles,  but  why  the  charcoal 
had  not  poisoned  her  to  death  no  one  knows.     This  being 


166  MRS.    MOESE   STEWART. 

the  land  of  orange  groves,  we  found  oranges  were  but  a 
dollar  a  dozen  ;  we  did  not  invest  in  Spanish  beans  and  red    , 
peppers — they  may  have  been  cheaper. 

The  American  portion  of  the  town  presents  a  very  differ- 
ent appearance  ;  there  the  stores  and  shops  are  kept  almost 
exclusively  by  Jews,  and  are  all  well  supplied  with  the 
latest  fashions  in  dry  goods,  millinery  and  hair  goods,  car- 
pets, mattings,  etc.  The  grocery  stores  are  excellent,  the 
chocolates,  teas,  coffees,  nuts,  olives,  limes,  etc.,  being  the 
very  best. 

Thursday,  May  16. — This  morning  at  nine  o'clock  our 
entire  party  set  off  in  three  coaches  to  visit  two  of  the  most 
celebrated  orange  groves  and  vineyards  on  the  Peninsula. 
Two  large  boxes  of  luncheon  had  been  prepared  for  us,  and 
we  were  to  make  a  day  of  it.  As  we  drove  out  of  the  city 
we  saw  here  and  there  a  few  orange  trees  grouped  about 
the  houses.  Soon  we  forded  a  broad  but  shallow  creek, 
where  wagons  with  ox  and  mule  teams  were  standing  to 
cool ;  and  then  began  a  long  drive  over  low  sand  hills  cov-  . 
ered  with  a  brown  dried  looking  grass  ;  these  are  the  sheep 
ranches  that  are  this  year  making  their  owners  so  rich.  I^o 
fences  divide  or  define  the  limit  of  a  man's  possessions ; 
scarcely  a  house  is  ever  in  sight — just  these  brown  barren 
hills.  At  last  we  came  to  one  that  had  four  four-feet-thick 
stone  walls  running  down  it ;  of  course  this  struck  us  as 
being  very  curious,  and  we  stopped  the  coach  to  quiz  the 
driver.  "  Those  are  not  stone  fences,  madam ;  they  are 
sheep."  And  truly  they  were  sheep  grazing  four  abreast 
in  these  straight  lines  down  the  hillside.  I  felt  very  much 
about  these  poor  creatures  as  Pat  did  when  I  reprimanded 
him  for  not  keeping  the  cow  in  the  paddock  (where  it 
was  true  the  pasture  was  very  short)  :  "  And  what  cud 
she  do  there,  mum  ? "  was  his  pertinent  reply ;  "  she  cud 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  167 

look  at  the  fince,  mum,  and  that's  all  she  cud  do."  Yet 
these  immense  flocks  live  and  thrive  exceedingly  upon 
this  stubble.  They  bear  lambs  twice  a  year,  and  are  shorn 
twice  a  year,  and  it's  not  counted  much  of  a  ranch  if  the 
proprietor  does  not  clear  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars  per  annum.  But  it  is  a  lonely,  desolate  life,  that 
palls  dreadfully  upon  all  who  undertake  it.  "We  met  a 
young  Frenchman  who  had  been  bookkeeper  for  an  old 
Spanish  ranchero.  His  pay  was  $1,200  in  gold,  and  the 
board  and  lodgings  of  his  wife  and  himself.  "But,"  said 
the  poor  young  fellow,  "  I  could  not  stand  it ;  I  would 
rather  have  gone  to  State  prison  for  half  the  money." 

On  we  bowled  over  hill  after  hill,  seeing  ever  in  the  dis- 
tance the  high  summits  of  the  Coast  Range,  wliitened  here 
and  there  with  patches  of  snow.  These  mountains  stand 
like  a  barrier  of  stone  between  the  cold,  keen  sea  breezes 
that  would  otherwise  sweep  over  and  desolate  the  whole 
peninsula  of  Lower  California.  They  likewise  water  the 
narrow  strip  of  fertile  ground  that,  like  the  valley  of  the 
Nile,  gives  growth  to  the  fruits  that  are  so  necessary  to 
the  support  as  well  as  wealth  of  the  region,  pouring  down 
upon  it  during  the  night  the  heat  which  the  mountainous 
steeps  have  gathered  from  the  sun's  scorching  rays,  and  per- 
fectly equalizing  the  temperature,  so  that  the  fruits  of  the 
tropics  come  to  the  richest  perfection  in  a  climate  where  the 
thermometer  never  falls  below  40°  Far.  in  winter,  or  rises 
above  80°  in  summer.  As  we  drive  onward,  no  signs  of  any 
respectable  vegetation,  save  the  eternal  brown  grass,  is  seen 
upon  these  constantly  recurring  sand  hills,  over  which  we 
struggle  tiirongli  powdery  grit  that  follows  our  horses  like 
a  cloud ;  although  occasionally  huge  cacti  that  looked  like 
lost  spirits  of  the  world  of  flowers  glared  at  us,  and  iield  up 
on  miserable  stalks  or  sticks,  great  knobs  of  greenish,  slimy, 


168  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

fiendish,  vegetable  fleshy  all  covered  with  vicious  bristles. 
Here  and  there  thej  burst  into  yellow  and  brown  poisonous 
looking  blossoms  that  oozed  upon  your  hands  a  thick  pestif- 
erous gum,  if  you  ventured  to  pick  them,  and  infected  your 
nostrils  with  a  faint  and  sickening  odor  both  deadly  and 
disgusting.  In  the  shadow,  or  rather  under  the  protection 
of  a  sand  hill,  a  large  thicket  of  these  liorrid  spectres  had 
started  into  being,  and  led  one  to  think  of  Tennyson's  line : 

"  Into  the  Valley  of  Death." 
Or  of  John  Bunyan,  who  makes  poor  Christian  to  say  : 
''  About  the  midst  of  this  valley  I  perceived  the  mouth  of 
hell  to  be,  and  it  stood  also  hard  by  the  wayside ;  the  fiends 
seemed  to  come  nearer  and  nearer,  but  when  the}'  were 
come  almost  even  at  him,  he  cried  out  with  a  most  vehe- 
ment voice  :  '  I  will  walk  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord 
God ! '   so  they  gave  back  and  came  no  further." 

It  was  more  than  passing  strange  that  flowers  should  stir 
one's  soul  with  such  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  devils  and 
damned  spirits,  and  I  longed  for  a  dozen  men  with  broad- 
axes  in  their  hands  to  hew  down  and  mash  and  mangle  these 
unsightly  growths.  Ever  since  the  miracle  of  the  banished 
devils  into  the  herds  of  swine,  more  or  less  of  the  curse  has 
clung  to  the  pig  ;  and  has  the  vegetable  as  well  as  the  animal 
world  its  scape-goat?  I  wonder  if  Hawthorne  was  thinking 
of  cacti  when  he  wrote  Rapacini's  Daughter,  for  to  love 
such  a  blossom  would  insure  an  unspeakable  empoison ment. 
The  very  dust  that  was  poured  into  the  carriage  like  a 
Scotch  mist  disdained  to  rest  upon  these  "  blossoms  ! "  and 
they  shrank  and  withered  in  the  heat  into  flabby  masses  of 
corruption,  until  out  of  sj-mpath}^  for  my  aversion,  Mrs.  D. 
tossed  them  out  upon  the  roadside.  I  left  them  hehind 
me,  it  is  true,  but  for  half  an  hour  I  was  haunted  with  tlie 
hope  that  they  would  be  trodden  on  and  torn  to  pieces. 


TRIP   TO    CALIFORNIA.  169 

About  half-past  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  we  came  suddenly, 
as  it  were,  upon  a  picket  fence — a  low,  shiftless  concern,  as 
compared  with  fences  at  home — but  it  spoke  of  protection, 
and  entering  a  gate  that  was  too  forlorn  for  the  premises  of 
a  third-rate  Michigan  farmer,  we  were,  in  a  moment  more, 
driving  through  groves  of  oranges,  walnuts,  figs  and  palms. 
Here  everything  spoke  of  cultivation.  Not  a  weed  raised 
its  head,  and  for  a  mile  each  tree  was  set,  as  it  were,  into  a 
square  bit  of  earth  with  a  little  wall  of  mould  about  it  to 
liold  the  water  with  which  once  a  fortnight,  in  the  fruit 
season,  its  roots  are  drenched.  We  saw  this  on  one  side  of 
the  road,  and  on  the  other,  grape  trees — for  they  did  not 
appear  in  the  least  like  vines.  Fancy  the  leaves  and  short 
branches  of  the  grape  bursting  out  of  a  trunk  the  size  of  a 
ten-year-old  apple  tree,  and  forming  a  head  almost  as  thick 
as  that  of  an  enormous  cabbage. 

A  few  moments  after  we  turned  in  we  were  in  sisflit  of 
Mr.  Rose's  house,  a  large,  low,  double  mansion  with  shel- 
tering piazzas,  over  which  scrambled  and  blossomed  roses 
far  too  large  for  beauty.  They  answered  to  my  brother's 
description  of  the  middle-aged  belles  of  London,  as  seem- 
ing "porter-fat."  AVe  sprang  across  a  little  rushing  brook, 
and  stepping  under  the  eaves  of  the  porch  were  almost 
within  the  square  parlor  of  the  house.  Miss  Rose,  who  had 
been  at  the  piano,  came  forward  and  welcomed  us  (utter 
strangers  that  we  were)  in  a  pleasant,  hospitable  fasiiion  ; 
told  us  her  father  and  mother  had  gone  to  San  Francisco, 
where,  we  afterwards  learned,  he  had  lost  considerable  upon 
a  horse  of  bis,  which  was  running  in  the  spring  races  at 
Sacramento.  The  motiier  was  getting  the  family  supplies. 
The  girl  confessed  that  thougli  very  beautiful,  their  ranch 
was  lonely,  and  then  said  that  her  father  had  only  been 
cultivating  it  eleven  years.     She  pointed  with  much  pride 

17 


170  MES.    MORSE   STEWART. 

to  portraits  of  her  parents  that  hung  upon  the  wall.  How 
blind  is  human  affection !  I  Icnow  that  Mrs.  Rose  was  a  far 
brighter  and  better  looking  woman,  than  the  brick-dust  and 
brown  representation  of  the  female  that  looked  out  of  tliat 
frame.  And  as  for  Mr.  Rose,  his  never  was  a  faithful 
portrait.  Such  a  flat,  stale,  unprofitable  looking  man  as 
that,  never  had  sense  enough  to  locate,  to  say  nothing  of 
putting  in  order,  such  a  ranch  as  the  one  surrounding  us, 

Mr.  Rose  had  been  bankrupted  in  Texas  in  1854,  and 
fifteen  j^ears  ago  he  had  not  credit  enough  to  buy  a  sack  of 
flour.  This  is  considered  the  lowest  condition  of  impecu- 
niosity,  and  what  Mrs.  Rose  did  for  bread  for  herself  and 
four  children  while  Mr.  Rose  went  to  get  honest  and  hon- 
orable possession  of  this  place  is  not  stated.  He  was  a 
much  shrewder  man  than  that  picture  would  indicate,  or  he 
would  never  have  had  sense  enough  to  look  up  such  a 
stream  of  water  as  the  one  that  now  makes  the  wilderness 
to  blossom  such  extravagant  roses. 

Twelve  years  ago  he  bouglit  two  thousand  acres  of  land 
surrounding  the  "Mission  San  Gabriel."  The  mention  of 
this  mission  takes  us  back  to  the  devoted  old  Spanish  mis- 
sionaries, who,  more  than  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago  (in 
1615),  made  their  way  to  this  far-off  spot — aye,  more,  who 
appreciated  at  once  that  all  this  country  needed  in  material 
things  to  make  it  a  paradise  was  water,  and  so  devoted 
themselves  to  seeking  and  finding  the  right  streams  upon 
which  to  settle.  They  found  one  here,  and  built  a  conduit 
thousands  of  feet  long,  that  to  this  day  is  strong  and  firm 
as  the  rocks  themselves,  and  still  conducts  with  its  first 
integrity  the  rusliing  torrents  of  water,  that  combined  so 
well  witli  other  advantages,  to  make  Mr.  Rose's  fortune. 
Here,  too,  they  built  a  great  church,  or  mission,  a  huge 
oblong  structure,  with  walls  four  feet  thick,  and  a  flat  roof. 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  171 

covered  with  tiles,  which  time  and  sunshine  have  warped 
into  as  many  curls  and  twists  as  an  autumn  leaf.  Within 
are  no  benches  or  seats  of  any  kind  ;  and  stupendous  doors, 
whose  latches  and  hinges  are  a  study,  stand  open  day  and 
night.  A  tawdry  altar  was  at  one  end,  and  the  pictures 
that  for  hundreds  of  miles  I  had  dreamed  of  seeing,  were 
startling.  Art  was  years  ago,  and  I  had  thought  that  if  they 
sent  their  canvas  saints  such  a  long  way  surely  they  would 
send  good  ones  ;  but  alack  and  alas  !  they  were  pale,  fantas- 
tic, lean-faced,  hopeless  looking  nondescripts,  that  might  be 
madonnas  or  men,  and  the  winds  had  broken  them  loose 
from  their  black -painted  frames  so  that  they  flapped  and 
flared  at  you  in  a  very  unbecoming  manner.  One  exhausted 
looking  gentleman  (or  lady,  it  was  hard  telling  which),  was 
hung  opposite  the  door,  so  that  every  little  breath  of  wind 
would  send  a  ripple  over  his  face  that  rolled  the  eyes  up  in 
an  agony  of  despair  and  set  the  mouth  off  into  a  broad  grin. 
The  effect  was  inexpressibly  absurd,  and  I  stood  shaking 
with  laughter,  till  I  noticed  just  below  a  box,  requesting 
"  aid  for  the  repair  and  preservation  of  this  mission." 
Whatever  my  faith  is  (and  I  trust  it  is  orthodox  Presbyte- 
rian), I  would  have  responded  to  this  appeal  if  it  had  taken 
what  they  call  out  here  "  my  bottom  dollar."  Grand  old 
adventurers,  they  had  planted  the  standard  of  the  cross 
under  the  shadow  of  these  mountains;  they  had  taught  lips 
unused  to  pra^'^er  how  to  ask  God's  mercy  and  pity  through 
Jesus,  His  beloved  ;  and  in  my  heart  I  bridged  the  centu- 
ries and  struck  hands  witii  these  men,  honoring  them  as 
faithful,  self-sacrificing  servants  of  the  Highest.  While  we 
stood  looking  upon  their  graves,  wildly  overgrown  with 
unfamiliar  grasses,  a  couple  of  Greasers  rode  by  and  crossed 
themselves,  and  muttered  a  mechamc-A  pate?'  noster: 

At  last  we  tore  ourselves  away  from  this  old  ruin  of  a 


172  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

mission  and  betook  us  to  the  orange  groves.  The  trees 
are  quite  lofty  in  lieight,  and  from  twenty-five  to  tliirty 
feet  in  the  spread.  The  trunks  are  not  large,  from 
eio-ht  to  ten  inches  in  diameter,  but  the  branches  make  a 
thick,  strong  upward  growth,  dense  and  shining,  that  sets 
off  in  bold  relief  the  large,  round  orange-colored  fruit, 
which  Ave  gathered  from  the  ladened  limbs  witliout  tlie 
aid  of  steps  or  ladder. 

I  never  could  endure  an  orange ;  it  is  either  a  dry, 
pulpy,  stale  chip,  or  a  sour,  fermented  affair  that  disap- 
points me  in  some  way.  Hence  I  was  loath  to  taste  the 
great  yellow  globe  that  I  held  in  my  liand  ;  but  a  penknife 
soon  severed  the  peel  into  sections,  and  tlien — well,  then,  I 
ate  six  in  succession,  and  never  mean  to  eat  another  unless 
I  can  get  it  ripe  from  the  trees.  The  freshness,  the  dainty 
odor,  the  juice,  the  pulp,  changing  into  a  rich  gelatinous 
sweet  that  melted  away  and  slipped  down  your  throat  with- 
out eventually  making  the  least  impression  on  your  stomach, 
are  not  to  be  described,  simply  experienced. 

It  was  the  very  last  of  "  the  season,"  and  John  Chinaman 
duplicated  himself  on  every  side,  and  waved  his  solemn, 
sad,  dispirited  pig-tail  with  every  orange  he  gathered.  At 
a  little  distance  the  trees  seemed  to  bear  two  kinds  of  fruit, 
here  an  orange  and  there  a  Celestial ;  but  the  boxes  on  the 
ground  and  the  sharp,  quick  counting  and  filling  that  was 
carried  on  by  American  or  English  hands  meant  business. 
Several  boxes  were  bought  by  our  party  at  a  cost  of  five 
dollars  the  hundred  oranges,  and  we  to  transport  them  to 
Los  Angeles.  The  Chinese  laborers  receive  eighteen 
dollars  "  and  find  themselves."  It  is  a  mercy  they  can,  as 
Mrs.  Partington  might  say,  for  they  are  alike  as  two  peas 
in  a  pod,  and  no  intelligent  mortal  could  find  one  if  he 
once  got  mixed  with  his  brethren.     The  Greaser,  who  is  a 


TRIP   TO   CALIFOENIA.  173 

liybrid  between  the  Spaniard  and  the  native  Indian  of  the 
Peninsula,  gets  a  little  higher  pay,  but  the  American  skilled 
laborer  receives  forty  dollars  a  month  in  gold. 

The  orange  is  a  fruit  of  long  growth  ;  eleven  months  it 
takes  to  reach  perfection,  and  these  very  trees  from  off 
which  we  gathered  the  well-ripened  fruit  were  white  with 
bud  and  blossom  which  will  not  reach  maturity  until  March 
and  April  next. 

The  English  walnut  is  cultivated  with  great  success  at 
this  ranch,  and  makes  most  rapid  growth ;  indeed  it  seems 
hard  to  realize  that  these  trees  are  only  eleven  years  from 
the  graft.  The  fig  trees  interested  me  wonderfully,  per- 
haps because  their  leaves  formed  the  first  garments  of  the 
race.  If  they  were  still  the  staple  for  the  habiliments  of 
the  human  family,  I  would  agree  to  do  the  sewing  for 
myself  and  five  children  in  twenty  minutes. 

Our  drivers  warned  us  that  we  had  yet  to  go  to  "Wilson's, 
which  is  another  superb  orange  grove  and  vineyard,  and  we 
accordingly  bade  good-bye  to  the  very  intelligent  as  well  as 
polite  foreman  of  Mr.  Rose,  and  set  out  to  see  the  results 
of  a  little  different  style  of  cultivation.  Striking  across 
country  upon  a  road,  that  however  gave  no  variety  to  the 
scenery,  three  miles  of  driving  brought  us  to  Wilson's. 
This  celebrated  ranch  is  far  older  than  that  of  Rose,  and 
has  within  its  precincts  a  little  lakelet  upon  which  Oakland 
county  would  smile  contemptuously,  but  such  is  the  value 
of  water  that  here  it  is  worth  far  more  than  a  gold  mine. 
The  house  stands  upon  the  roadside,  and  from  it,  too,  we 
heard  the  sound  of  the  piano.  Here  we  were  to  lunch,  and 
betaking  ourselves  to  the  lakeside  through  a  vineyard  that 
looked  precisely  like  a  young  orchard,  we  explored  with 
interest  the  contents  of  our  tin  lunch-boxes,  while  Mr.W.  and 
Will  picked  half  a  bushel  of  oranges  that  were  to  serve  as 


174  MES.  MOESE   STEWART. 

dessert.  Chicken,  tongue,  sandwiches  and  cake  disappeared, 
and  the  oranges  followed,  but  they  were  not  the  sweet, 
dainty  things  we  had  tasted  at  Mr.  Rose's ;  still  they  were 
nice,  very  nice,  and  again  the  party  averaged  half  a  dozen 
apiece  without  inconvenience.  Here  we  gathered  huge 
bunches  of  jasmine,  white,  and  yellow  ;  and  scarlet  pome- 
granates, with  an  occasional  flower  that  was  entirely  unfa- 
miliar, and  reveled  in  a  gorgeons  tropical  luxuriance  of 
foliage.  Mr.  Wilson  also  was  absent  from  home,  but  his 
man  of  business  took  much  pains  and  pride  in  showing  us 
the  wine  cellars,  they  being  the  great  curiosit}^  of  this 
ranch.  He  was  an  educated  German  who  had  been 
employed  for  some  years  in  the  wine  pressing  business  of 
Kelley's  Island.  The  vaults  were  filled  with  casks  and  tuns 
of  ripening  juice,  that  he  told  us  were  all  sold  to  a  New 
York  house  at  a  dollar  the  gallon.  Reversing  the  Oriental 
custom  of  the  best  wine  at  the  first  of  the  feast,  he  pre- 
sented me  with  the  poorest.  It  was  poor  indeed — a  sour, 
raw,  and  slightly  bitter  decoction  that  might  have  some  but 
not  many  of  the  characteristics  of  claret.  No  doubt  this 
is  "  doctored  "  into  something  quite  different  by  the  "  New 
York  house."  From  this  he  went  to  Hock,  Port,  Angelica, 
Sweet  Catawba,  etc.,  but  everything  tasted  crude,  and  was 
not  unlike  the  little  book  in  the  Apocalypse  in  its  effect 
upon  the  stomach.  In  the  center  of  the  vault  stood  a  stu- 
pendous cask  containing  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
some  gallons — it  would  be  shorter  to  say  five  thousand,  but 
I  suppose  our  guide  was  like  the  boy  who  killed  ninety-nine 
blackbirds  at  one  shot,  and  declined  to  make  it  even  figures 
because  he  was  too  conscientious  to  tell  an  untruth /b?"  one 
Mackhird  !  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  was  large  enough  to  have 
drowned  our  whole  party  comfortably — indeed  there  were 
many  "tuns,"  in  which   a  winey  grave  could   have  been 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  175 

found.     In  some  of  these  a  slim  mortal  might  have  dropped 
through  the  bung-hole. 

Ere  long  our  drivers  warned  us  that  if  we  expected  to  be 
at  Los  Angeles  in  time  to  dress  for  dinner  we  "  must  be 
under  way."  The  day  had  seemed  too  lovely  to  end — too 
peaceful  amid  those  perfect  trees  to  be  brought  to  a  termi- 
nation by  a  coach  and  pair — and  yet  the  immutable  law  of 
change  ruled  here  as  elsewhere,  and  by  five  o'clock  we  were 
rolling  quietly  forward  toward  Los  Angeles,  Suddenly  off 
whizzed  a  wheel — the  driver  sprang  from  the  box  and 
unfastened  his  horses.  The  inmates  of  the  coach  got  them- 
selves out  as  best  they  could,  and  we  all  stood  viewing  the 
cause  of  the  disaster  in  a  stupid,  appalled  fashion.  "Without 
thinking  of  the  proprieties  or  conventionalities  of  life  (I 
always  do  forget  them  till  afterwards),  I  stepped  forward, 
relieved  the  driver  of  the  reins,  and  left  him  free  to  help 
Mr.  TV",  in  seeing  what  could  be  done,  which  proved  to^be 
exactly  nothing.  Mr.  McM.  must  have  been  provided  with 
an  eye  in  the  back  of  his  head,  for  though  nearly  half  a 
mile  ahead  of  us,  he  saw  our  mishap,  and,  laughing  heartily 
at  my  attitude,  returned  to  aid  us.  Mrs.  "\V.  and  myself 
took  places  in  his  carriage,  while  Mrs.  D.  went  back  to  join 
the  remainder  of  our  company.  "W"e  had  yet  five  miles  to 
drive  before  we  reached  the  city,  and  the  fine,  sandy  dust, 
impalpable  as  powder,  was  just  two  feet  deep  all  the  way. 
A  clear,  fresh,  pleasant  breeze  sprang  up  and  sifted  this 
upon  us  till  we  were  glad  to  see  Los  Angeles  in  the  dis- 
tance. Once  there,  a  bath  and  general  brushing  soon  fresh- 
ened us  for  a  hearty  dinner. 

Friday,  May  17. — AV"as  positively  tired  out  to-day,  even 
feverish  and  ill,  and  kept  my  bed.  Towards  evening  I 
bethought  me  of  an  old  prescription  given  me  by  a  friend : 
"When  you  feel  just  as  bad  as  you   can,  get  up  and  dress 


176  MRS.    M0K8E   STEWART. 

yourself  nicely,  and  then  do  something."  I  followed  it 
with  benefit  and  profit,  for  in  the  large  parlor  of  the  house, 
I  fell  in  with  a  lady  and  a  gentleman  with  whom  1  had  a 
most  agreeable  conversation.  He  had  "  no  style,"  as  peo- 
ple say  now-a-days,  nor  she  either.  A  tall,  slim,  shambling 
looking  man,  with  a  Yankee  twang,  but  good  and  expres- 
sive face.  His  wife  was  loithoxtt  an  over-skirt !! !  and  had 
her  hair  brushed  straight  down  over  her  ears  and  upon  the 
sides  of  her  face  ;  but  it  was  a  sweet,  expressive,  thought- 
ful countenance — and  when  he  offered  me  a  seat  by  the 
open  window,  I  declined  it  with  great  propriety.  I  sat 
quietly  awaiting  an  advance  from  the  lady.  Of  course  it 
came,  and  then  we  drifted  into  the  usual  questions.  The 
gentleman  (as  Mr.  D.  learned  afterwards,  was  one  of  the 
first  lawyers  and  jurists  in  San  Francisco,  etc.)  had  lived 
over  twenty  years  in  California.  The  climate  of  San  Fran- 
cisco did  not  agree  with  his  wife ;  she  had  severe  bronchial 
troubles,  and  he  had  bought  her  an  orange  ranch  near  San 
Diego,  where,  with  her  two  daughters  and  one  son,  she 
passed  almost  her  entire  time.  The  sweet  looking  English 
woman  on  our  boat  had  gone  down  to  her  as  governess  for 
these  young  girls;  while  she  had  come  up  by  stage  to  Los 
Angeles  to  meet  her  husband,  and  spend  three  days  with 
him  during  an  interval  of  court,  and  was  very  curious  to 
know  of  me  all  about  the  appearance  of  the  new  teacher, 
etc.  He  had  spent  some  little  time  in  Michigan  years  ago ; 
was  a  cousin  of  the  C.'s ;  had  crossed  Lake  Erie  in  1840 
with  my  father,  and  had  been  led  by  him  on  that  occasion, 
and  always  since,  to  pay  marked  attention  to  certain  atmos- 
pheric phenomena.  Here  followed  a  long  and  most  delight- 
ful analysis  (for  it  was  that)  of  the  climate  of  Southern 
California,  that  I  only  regret  I  cannot  reproduce  on  paper. 
"  It  was  so  different  from  ordinary  lands  that  it  had  excep- 


tW" 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  177 

tionable  experiences — for  instance,  grain  planted  upon  hills, 
utterl}^  un watered,  would  give  wonderful  crops.  Lands 
that  to  all  appearances  were  waste,  must  yet  produce  the 
bread  of  the  country.  At  San  Diego  much  money  had 
been  spent  in  sinking  artesian  M'ells,  but  they  were  always 
a  failure;  some  boulder,  hundreds  of  feet  below  the  sur- 
face, would  blast  all  prospects  of  M'ater,  That  there  was 
ever  at  work  a  grand  law  of  natural  compensation,  and 
Lower  California  was  developing  it  in  the  most  surprising 
manner."  Then  she  took  up  the  burden  of  the  tale,  and 
said  that  "  the  ranch  life  was  sad  and  desolate  (evidently 
she  carried  a  divided  heart — her  husband  so  far  away  dur- 
ing so  many  months  of  the  year) ;  that  in  her  case  the 
climate  was  just  what  she  needed,  but  that  even  books 
could  not  make  her  loneliness  anything  more  than  toler- 
able." At  this  juncture  a  telegram  was  brought  Judge  C, 
and  she  exclaimed,  with  terror  in  her  voice,  "  It  cannot  be 
the  children!"  It  proved  to  be  stocks,  and  he  told  me 
much  of  the  history  of  the  stock  speculations  and  excite- 
ment I  had  witnessed  on  our  arrival  in  California. 

Ere  I  was  aware,  bed-time  had  arrived,  and  Mr,  D.  had 
come  to  see*  if  I  had  any  need  or  want  unsupplied.  I  told 
him  of  my  pleasant  evening,  and  in  his  droll  way  he 
inquired : 

"  See  here,  Mrs.  S.;  do  you  speak  to  everybody  you 
meet  ? " 

"No,  sir;  I  do  not." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  how  do  you  manage  it  ?  Everybody 
speaks  to  you." 

"  I  am  sure  I  cannot  tell,  except  that  wherever  I  am,  I 
do  my  best  to  look  agreeable,  and  when  people  speak  to 
me  to  show  that  I  am  genuinely  interested  ;  hence  I  not 
only  see  the  country,  but  tlie  inhabitants  thereof." 


» 


178  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

Satnrday,  May  18. — Tlie  morning  has  been  devoted*  to 
a  walk  about  Los  Angeles.  The  view  of  the  town  from 
the  high  western  hills  is  extremely  pretty ;  rows  of  terrace 
houses  clothe  but  do  not  adorn  the  steep  ascent.  On  the 
hill-top  lies  the  Protestant  burial  ground — a  rather  forsaken 
looking  enclosure,  with  here  and  there  a  marble  or  painted 
pine  slab,  to  mark  the  resting-place  of  some  poor  pilgrim 

"  Who  by  the  wayside  fell  and  perished, 
Weary  with  the  strife  of  life. '' 

In  such  a  spot  as  this,  one  realizes  how  the  pioneers  of  a 

new  country  suffer  wreck — William  J.,  of ,  Duchess 

couuty,  New  York,  aged  37  years  ;  James  S.,  of ,  Flor- 
ida, in  the  35th  year  of  his  age.  Every  State  in  the  Union 
has  here  at  least  a  representative,  perhaps  of  its  best  blood 
and  spirit.  The  usual  brown,  seedy,  short  grass,  if  you 
can  call  it  such,  fringes  these  desolate  graves,  and  above 
them  waves  the  plume-like  pepper-tree,  with  all  its  flimsy, 
evanescent,  feathery  foliage.  It  seems  as  if  one  sharp 
wind  would  sweep  away  these  little  sandy  mounds,  and  the 
trees  that  mark  them,  so  that  tliese  unsung  heroes  would 
not  even  leave  a  grave  behind  tliem.  Wliat  odds — suffice 
it,  that  the  good  men  do,  lives  after  them,  Shakspeare  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  object  as  you  look  down  upon 
the  town  is  a  great  red  "  Gas  Works,"  that,  like  offenses, 

was  rank, 


And  smelt  to  Heaven. 

An  opera  house,  some  Protestant  churches,  and  a  number 
of  stores,  mark  the  dividing  line  between  the  Spanish  and 
the  American  portion  of  the  town. 

At  half-past  three  we  left  Los  Angeles,  retracing  our 
steps  with  about  tlie  same  interest  that  marked  the  progress 


TRIP  TO   CALIFORNIA.  179 

of  that  King  of  France,  who,  with  forty  thousand  men, 
marched  up  the  hill,  and  then  marched  down  again.  And 
yet  there  is  always  something  to  see,  even  in  low  flat  land 
where  green  grass  grows.  Here  were  nice  looking  people 
getting  off  at  a  little  shed  that  was  called  a  station,  and 
going  over  this  trackless  sea  of  grass  on  mustang  ponies  or 
horses  to  some  house  or  shelter  far  out  of  sight.  They 
were  probably  well-to-do  rancheros,  but  they  did  not  look 
very  light-hearted.  The  climate  is  delicious,  but  in  a  little 
time  I  am  satisfied  its  monotony  would  stagnate  all  the 
"  go"  in  my  body  and  mind. 

At  half-past  six  p.  m.  we  found  the  Orizaba  waiting  for 
the  train.  The  captain  had  supper  held  back  for  our  arrival, 
and  an  egotistical  traveler  could  easily  have  flattered  him 
or  herself  that  all  this  was  intended  as  individual  courtesy. 

Sunday,  May  19. — How  I  miss  my  quiet  home  Sabbaths. 
This  on  the  boat  was  as  respectfully  deferred  to  as  one 
could  expect,  but  there  was  no  marked  recognition ;  not 
even  a  hymn  was  sung,  and  on  that  quiet,  lovely  sea  I 
longed  to  hear  my  mother's  voice  in 

"  Sailor  on  the  lonely  billow, 
Far,  far  at  sea." 

At  four  p.  M.  the  waves  began  to  roll  higher,  and  sensi- 
tive people  took  to  their  berths,  where  I  remained,  more 
frightened  than  hurt  by  sea-sickness,  till  we  crossed  the 
bar  and  entered  the  Golden  Gate.  Here  the  boundless 
ocean  narrows  into  a  bay,  and  San  Francisco  comes  in  sight. 
On  Monday  at  half-past  four  we  were  once  more  at  home 
at  the  "  Grand."  Our  rooms  were  ready,  the  attendants 
glad  to  see  us,  and  our  letters  on  the  table.  As  Mr,  D. 
remarked,  "This  is  something  like,  and  it's  a  great  pity  our 
hotels  in  the  States  could  not  take  a  lesson  or  two  ;  no  hotel 
clerk  to  cock  his  eye  and  look  contemptuously  at  you  over 


180  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART. 

his  ruffled  sham  front,  to  receive  your  order  and  deliver  it 
again  to  a  darkey,  in  a  tone  that  rouses  all  the  angry  pas- 
sions of  your  heart — I  think  his  words  were,  'inost  infernal 
tnad — or  if  he  is  polite  to  a  lady,  it's  a  politeness  two 
degrees  more  insufferable  than  his  insolence." 

The  hotel  table  is  not  wonderful,  but  it  is  good  enough  ; 
the  building  is  charmingly  ventilated,  and  their  head  peo- 
ple, clerks,  waiters,  etc.,  become  personally  acquainted  with 
you  without  your  being  aware  of  it. 

Tuesday,  May  21. — The  grand  conundrum  of  a  Califor- 
nia trip  is  how  to  get  to  the  Yosemite  ?  What  to  take  to 
the  Yosemite?  What  to  wear  in  the  Yosemite?  What 
route  is  to  be  preferred  ?  Will  you  visit  the  Calaveras,  or 
the  Mariposa  big  trees,  or  both  ?  Will  you  go  and  return 
one  way  ?  This  is  better.  Will  you  go  one  way  and  return 
another  ?  This  is  best.  Will  you  take  the  public  stage  or 
a  private  coach  ?  You  can  do  this.  You  cannot  do  that. 
Mr.  W.  has  talked,  and  talked,  and  talked.  Little  groups 
and  knots  of  people  stand  round  and  talk.  Have  you  been 
to  Houseworth's  (he  has  the  agency  of  one  route)  ?  Have 
you  seen  Smith  ?  or  Robinson  ?  or  Jones  ?  who  have  the 
management  of  three  other  routes.  Can  you  get  in  ? 
"  Inspiration  Point  is  blockaded  with  snow  !  "  "  Passen- 
gers have  started  in  two  weeks  ago  on  the  Coulterville  road, 
and  nothing  has  been  heard  of  them  since!"  Shall  you 
wear  trowsers  ?  Would  you  take  two  dresses  ?  At  last  a 
definite  answer  to  all  these  questions  became  imperative. 
Mr.  D.  called  the  party  together  and  made  a  characteristic 
speech :  "  The  big  Injun  of  California  is  the  Yosemite 
Yalley,  but  how  to  see  him  is  a  question.  If  you  go  by 
Clark  &  Hatch's,  you  must  ride  twenty-five  miles  on  horse- 
back in  one  day ;  if  yon  go  by  a  certain  other  route,  it  is 
thirty  miles  in  one  day ;  if  you  take  the  Coulterville  route, 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  181 

yon  must  stage  it  two  daj^s ;  if  you  go  to  tlie  Calaveras 
trees,  it  will  take  auotlier.  You  can  get  in  on  a  new  route 
by  Jacksonville.  It  will  cost  from  $100  to  $150  any  way  ; 
you  may  save  ten  dollars  or  more  by  going  by  stage  ;  your 
expenses  by  coach  are  from  three  to  five  dollars  a  day,  and 
take  your  time ;  somebody  say  something.  Mrs.  S.,  what 
do  you  wish  to  do  ?  "  Not  being  accustomed  to  public 
speaking,  I  said  briefl}',  that  we  had  no  choice.  "  Come," 
said  Mr.  D.,  "that's  pleasant;  here  are  four  women  with 
no  choice  ;  I  see  how  it  will  be — when  we  get  into  the 
toughest  of  it  (and  I  tell  you,  to  start  with,  it's  a  tough 
trip),  you  will  all  begin  to  say,  'I  wish  we  had  done  so  and 
so.'  Now  if  you  have  any  wish,  express  it,  or  forever  after 
hold  your  tongues  ;  don't  lay  back  and  have  no  choice  ; 
have  a  choice,  and  stick  to  it.  Now,  Mrs.  S.,  will  you  make 
another  remark  ? "  "Whereupon  Mrs.  S.  did  remark  in  this 
wise  :  "  I  have  studiously  ignored  all  unpleasant  knowledge 
of  tin's  trip  ;  my  orders  at  home  were  not  to  venture  upon 
it,  if  it  was  likely  to  prove  rough  ;  I  do  not  know  anything 
about  it ;  I  do  not  wish  to  know  anything  about  it ;  in  my 
opinion  the  way  to  take  this  trip  is  to  take  it  blind.  Mr. 
W.  has  thorned  me  with  information,  and  now  you  are 
determined  to  do  the  same  ;  I  expect  to  be  murdered,  but  I 
propose  to  acGomj)any  you.  What  earthly  use  is  a  brother- 
in-law  if  he  cannot  get  o!ie  into  the  Yosemite  Valley?" 
(Great  applause.)  This  being  everybody's  else  sentiment, 
Mr.  D.  forthwith  engaged  a  carriage  to  meet  us  at  Milton, 
and  to-morrow  morning  we  start. 

The  afternoon  was  devoted  to  seeing  the  Chinese  stores, 
which  are  full  of  curious  things  of  no  earthly  use ;  their 
charges  are  high  and  their  wares  not  particularly  to  my 
taste.  In  point  of  variety  at  Vantine's  in  New  York,  you 
can  get  more  beautiful  and  quite  as  characteristic  goods. 


182  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART, 

This  evening  Dr.  K.  called. 

Thursday,  May  23. — We  were  rapped  out  of  bed  at  six 
o'clock  this  morning,  and  after  a  hasty  breakfast,  i.  e.  gorg- 
ing one's  self  with  unchewed  food,  like  any  camel  of  the 
desert,  were  packed  into  the  Grande  coach  and  off  again. 
Not,  however,  before  I  had  waylaid  the  mail  boy  and 
secured  my  letters.  I  looked  over  his  slioulder  as  he  was 
sorting  them  on  the  table,  and,  seizing  two,  remarked, 
"Those  are  mine,"  and  was  away.  Poor,  astonished  fel- 
low! He  made  a  little  rush  after  me,  and  expressed  a 
wish  to  be  ''sure  it  was  all  right,"  but  his  effort  was  futile, 
for  we  were  under  way  and  trailing  through  the  uncleanly 
streets,  damp  and  reeking  with  the  night  dews,  to  the  Cen- 
tral Pacific  depot.  To  get  out  of  San  Francisco  invariably 
involves  "crossing  the  bay.  The  Oakland  ferry,  a  huge 
steamboat  that  takes  its  time,  lay  idly  at  the  dock  swallow- 
ing the  tremendous  crowd  that  poured  into  its  mighty 
cabin.  What  a  siniple  affair  it  was  to  identify  the  tourists, 
the  rancheros,  the  miners;  and  we  were  quite  interested 
until  the  boat  swung  loose  and  steamed  out  against  the 
bitter,  cutting  wind. 

Oakland  is  to  San  Francisco  what  Brooklyn  is  to  New 
York,  but  struck  us  as  appearing  rather  more  inaccessible, 
inasmuch  as  after  the  ferry  has  disposed  of  you  as  the 
whale  did  of  Jonah,  you  go  nearly  three  miles  by  rail  on 
pile  made  ground  ere  you  reach  the  solid  foundation  that 
bears  up  the  town.  By  eleven  o'clock  we  were  at  Lathrop, 
where  they  told  us  we  could  get  dinner,  but  being  in  no 
mood  for  that  meal  at  that  moment  we  let  the  golden 
opportunity  slip.  "  Eat  when  anything  is  offered,"  is  a 
safe  rule  to  follow  in  this  country.  Here  we  changed 
cars  for  Stockton ;  there  again  we  changed  cars  for  Milton, 
where  we  would  be  met  by  a  private  carriage  that  would 


TKIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  183 

take  us  forward.  At  Stockton  Mr.  D.,  wlio  had  donned  a 
a  wide-awake  liat  and  looked  generally  equal  to  anything, 
was  accosted  by  an  individual  in  a  white  beaver  "tile," 
with  the  nap  brushed  the  wrong  way.  In  a  semi-genteel 
fashion  he  inquired,  "Are  you  going  to  the  big  trees?" 
His  question  was  promptly  answered  by  another,  "  Do  I 
look  like  a  man  going  to  the  big  trees  ?"  A  critical  glance, 
and  the  white  beaver  replied  frankly,  "  Well,  I  should 
say  you  did,  and  I've  got  the  horses."  But  after  all,  a 
moment's  conversation  led  to  Mr.  D.'s  asserting,  "  You've 
missed  it  this  time;  I'm  not  your  customer."  After  this 
we  knew  that  there  would  be  no  difficulty  when  we  reached 
Milton,  for  Mr.  D.'s  general  "  big  tree  air  "  was  better  than 
a  guide  book. 

In  the  train,  cards  of  invitation  were  circulated  for  a 
dinner  at  Peters,  which  proved  to  be  the  most  palpable 
fraud  ever  perpetrated  b}''  the  "  Heathen  Chinee."  The 
food  was  execrable,  and  the  Chinamen's  long  nails  and  dis- 
gusting pigtails  make  me  shudder  as  I  think  of  them.  One 
wretch  perched  himself  behind  K.'s  chair,  and  from  time  to 
time  shrieked  at  her,  "  Kee,  koh,  kee,  koh."  He  was  not 
to  be  annihilated  by  a  glance.  Again  and  again  these  mys- 
tical syllables  were  fired  into  her  ear  or  exploded  at  her  as 
if  they  were  a  new  kind  of  Chinese  fire  cracker  or  torpedo. 
At  last  Mr.  D.,  coming  out  in  a  fresh  character,  that  of 
"an  interrupter,"  as  Mrs.  Partington  would  say,  informed 
us  that  "  That  Chinaman  was  inquiring  whether  K.  would 
have  tea  or  coffee."  She  gave  a  superb  toss  to  her  head 
and  replied,  "  Neither."  But  as  that  was  not  a  word  in  his 
vocabulary,  he  persistently  "Kee,  kohed,"  until  to  get  rid 
of  hiin  she  replied,  "Tea."  Pushing  away,  he  returned 
with  a  cup  of  the  boiling  liquid,  in  which  his  yellow  thumb 
was  plunged  far  above  the  first  knuckle. 


184  MRS.    MOKSE   STEWART. 

Here  Mr.  Dunning,  a  tall,  thin,  gentle  looking  Jehu,  had 
marked  Mr.  D.  for  his  own,  and  was  on  time  at  two  p.  m. 
with  a  long,  three-seated  beach  wagon  or  covered  rockaway, 
into  which  eight  people  and  eight  portmanteaus  were 
stowed  ;  and  there  was  a  change  of  misery.  The  road 
was  like  the  little  girl  in  the  rhyme,  Mdio 

"  When  slie  was  good  was  very  good  indeed, 
But  when  she  was  bad  she  was  horrid," 

And  it  was  bad  the  greater  part  of  the  way,  and  we  were 
tired,  and  starved,  and  hot,  and  dusty.  AYe  limited  our 
imagination  to  reaching  Murphj's.  Really  I  can  not  tell 
how  the  country  looked,  for  every  time  I  opened  my  eyes 
the  stage  gave  a  jolt  that  bumped  the  sight  out  of  them  and 
the  hope  out  of  my  heart.  Our  four  horses  tugged  us  up 
a  hill  over  loose  and  rattling  stones  that  rolled  down  behind 
us,  and  then  down  a  hill  where  infantile  boulders  went 
before  and  insisted  upon  being  underneath  our  wheels  at 
least  ten  times  apiece.  We  were  not  acclimated  to  staging. 
Two  hundred  miles  of  this  sort  of  thing  was  a  ghastly 
future ;  but  we  held  our  peace  and  endured  life  from 
minute  to  minute,  occasionally  inquiring,  "  How  many 
miles  is  it  to  Murphy's  ? "  The  reply  was  never  encour- 
aging. 

As  day  declined  another  carriao;e  came  to  meet  us.  It 
was  some  misunderstanding  between  the  drivers,  but  Mr. 
W.  and  Will  availed  themselves  of  it,  and  jumping  in, 
praised  and  bribed  the  young  whip  until  he  got  them  to 
the  hotel  a  half  hour  before  us.  Night  closed  in  upon  us 
and  we  were  still  lurching  our  way  forward.  The  country 
was  barren,  forsaken,  forlorn.  We  knew  every  bone  and 
muscle  of  our  frame  better  than  any  anatomist,  be  he  whom 
he  may.     With  us  anatomy  was  illustrated  by  aches. 

As  the  moon  rose  Mr.  Dunning  gave  a  flourish  of  his 
whip,  and  making  the  thong  stand  out  like  a  finger-post, 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  185 

remarked,  "There's  Angels."  He  could  not  mean  the 
heavenly  visitants  who  are  perpetually  heading  one  off  from 
mischief.  Indeed,  angels  seemed  to  be  a  frequent  and 
familiar  name  this  way,  to  wit,  Angel  Island,  Los  Angeles. 
Angels — what  angels?  Oh,  if  we  had  only  been  angels, 
Saint  Cecilia  angels,  that  could  have  waved  a  pair  of  gull- 
like wings  and  wafted  ourselves  over  the  stones  and  boul- 
ders and  hills  generally,  without  the  shaking  and  bumping 
and  thumping  that  for  the  last  five  hours  we  had  endured  : 
what  an  improvement  it  would  have  been  on  stage  locomo- 
tion !  Alas,  we  wet'e  not  angels;  only  stiff  and  sore  mor- 
tals who  were  not  content  where  we  were  comfortable. 
All  at  once  Mr.  D.'s  stern  voice  broke  out : 

"  Then  Abner  Dean  of  Angels  raised  a  point  of  order,  when 
A  chunk  of  old  red  sandstone  took  him  in  the  abdomen, 
And  he  smiled  a  kind  of  sickly  smile,  and  curled  up  on  the  floor, 
And  the  subsequent  proceedings  interested  him  no  more." 

"  If  Abner' s  there  let's  call."  "  How  is  he  now  ?"  "  I've 
known  him  these  four  years."  So  had  we  all.  Tliis  rhyme 
of  the  poet,  the  droll  sally  of  our  patient  protector,  wakened 
us  to  new  life ;  it  was  better  than  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
Dunning  himself.  He  told  us  how  Bret  Harte  had  lived 
among  these  Iiills  and  worked  these  mines  and  studied  these 
miners  ;  how  "  he  was  pretty  generally  correct  in  the  main." 
The  road  ceased  to  be  long  and  rough;  it  was  like  "the 
beguilements  in  the  boats,"  in  that  exquisite  story  of  Dick- 
ens', "The  wreck  of  the  Golden  Mary,"  as  we  listen  to 
verse  after  verse  of  this  poet  of  the  mines. 

All  at  once  we  came  to  a  toll-bar  that  seemed  to  liavc 
sprung  suddenly  out  of  the  earth.  A  morbid  desire  to 
know  the  worst  forced  me  to  inquire  once  more : 

"  How  far  is  it  to  Murphy's?" 

18 


186  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

"  Four  hundred  "  — 

"  Miles,  of  course  !  I  expected  it ; "  and  I  thought  of  that 
class  of  men  "who  keep  a  pike  to  awenge  themselves  on 
human  nature." 

"Four  hundred  j'ards,  ma'am;  don't  be  down-hearted" 
and  he  laughed  a  gurgling,  jolly  laugh  that  waked  the 
horses  and  Dunning,  who,  bringing  his  long,  snake-like  lash 
to  bear  upon  his  four-in-hand,  dashed  them  into  the  town 
with  a  flourish  and  crash  and  bang  that  brought  people  out 
of  their  stores  and  houses  to  see  him  rein  up  at  Murphy's. 

There  stood  Mr.  W.  and  Will  with  a  pair  of  steps  ready 
to  aid  us  in  dismounting ;  our  rooms  were  in  order  and  our 
suppers  under  way.  The  hotel  was  a  high  brick  store-look- 
ing edifice,  with  iron  shutters  for  doors  and  windows.  A 
nice,  motherly,  elderly  woman  cam.e  to  my  room  and 
brought  me  hot  water  and  fresh  towels  ;  and  said  this  would 
be  our  worst  day,  every  one  was  tired  when  he  got  there, 
but  rested  when  he  left. 

The  supper  was  delicious — no  Chinamen  in  sight — and 
after  it  I  stepped  out  on  to  the  pavement  and  into  the 
moonlight  to  take  a  view  of  the  town.  It  is  considered 
quite  a  place;  may  have  four  or  five  hundred  inhabitants 
and  a  number  of  empty  houses.  A  gentleman  handed  me 
a  chair,  and  in  a  moment  more  inquired,  "  Are  j'ou  not  a 
sister  of  Dr.  S.  P.  D.  ?"  I  bowed  in  acknowledgment,  and 
found  I  was  conversing  with  Mr.  Jay  H.,  of  Houghton, 
Lake  Superior,  an  old  classmate  of  my  brother's.  If  I  only 
had  Mr.  Mansfield's  voice  and  presence  I  might  sing  with 
equal  expression,  "Michigan,  my  Michigan."  Her  sons 
and  daughters  meet  in  every  portion  of  the  globe. 

Friday,  May  24. — What  a  sleep,  what  a  rest,  last  night's 
was!  How  fresh  and  fair  the  day  opened!  We  took  life 
leisurely  as  compared  with  yesterday,  and  did  not   make 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  187 

such  an  earlj'  start  for  the  big  trees  as  on  many  another 
occasion.  Eight  o'clock  found  us  rolling  out  of  ^the  town 
and  bumping  over  the  gold  diggings  tliat  channel  and 
tunnel  the  turnpike.  Presently  we  struck  into  another 
road,  and  then  the  beauty  of  earth,  air  and  sky  took  full 
possession  of  us.  Up  one  long  slope  after  another,  through 
sunny,  green  pasture  lands,  that  were  dotted  here  and  there 
with  zamias  and  wild  oak  bushes.  Gradually  all  grew  more 
dense  and  strong;  the  massive  trunks  and  comparatively 
light  foliage  of  the  trees  brought  back  the  oak  openings  of 
Kalamazoo,  as  they  were  in  my  early  girlhood  ;  yet  no  signs 
of  habitation  save  the  road  we  followed. 

Occasionally  man,  with  his  usual  perverse  desire  to  do 
wonders,  had  sawn  down  a  tree,  for  what  purpose  none  can 
tell,  except  it  was  to  prove  that  lie  was  monarch  of  all  he 
surveyed  ;  for  the  huge  mass  would  lie  as  it  fell,  and  in  that 
dry,  pure  air  there  was  but  very  little  decay.  One  immense 
sugar  pine  not  less  than  twenty-five  feet  in  circumference 
had  been  sawn  down  with  what  they  call  a  whip  saw  and 
then  cut  into  sections.  It  was  larger  than  any  tree  I  had 
ever  seen  in  my  life,  and  Dunning  rested  his  iiorses  while 
we  speculated  upon  its  size.  A  drive  of  twenty  miles 
brought  us  to  a  large  hotel  handsomelj^  located  and  looking 
fresh  and  fair  among  the  trees  that  surrounded  it.  Two, 
called  the  Twin  Brothers,  stood  as  sentinels  on  each  side 
of  the  road,  and  challenged  our  approach.  They  were 
the  veritable  "  big  trees "  of  the  country,  but  they  stood 
so  tall  and  stately  that  they  did  not  strike  one  as  being 
so  huge. 

It  was  twelve  m,,  and  we  waited  a  few  moments  for  dinner 
before  setting  out  on  5ur  quest  for  the  grove.  The  house 
was  extremely  comfortable,  the  dinner  very  nice  and  nicely 
served.     Many  a  spot  of  much  more    pretension  was   not 


188  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

nearly  so  acceptable  a  resting  place.  We  had  the  mountahi 
snow  for  ice  and  mountain  mutton  for  meat,  but  the  vege- 
tables staged  it  as  we  had  done.  The  gentlemen  desiring  to 
enjoy  their  cigars  and  the  prospect,  tilted  their  chairs  on 
the  piazza,  but  Mrs.  D.  and  I  strolled  down  to  a  large  sum- 
mer house  that  was  built  upon  the  stump  of  a  big  tree,  which 
for  some  vandal  reason  had  been  cut  down.  The  building 
was  pavilion -shaped ;  its  diameter  twenty-four  feet  one  and 
one-half  inches,  in  height  eighteen  feet,  and  the  stump  stood 
five  feet  above  the  ground.  We  talked  across  this  hall,  we 
walked  around  it,  we  studied  the  floor  which  of  course  was 
the  solid  stump,  and  then  went  up  a  pair  of  steps  and  stood 
upon  a  section  of  this  same  tree  which  was  still  lying  on 
the  ground.  It  was  like  going  up  to  the  roof  of  some 
grand  public  building  and  looking  down  upon  the  houses 
around. 

The  gentlemen  sent  a  guide  for  us,  and  we  started  for 
the  grove,  which  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away.  The  ground 
was  somewhat  swampy,  with  here  and  there  a  little  stream 
meandering  through.  When  at  length  we  came  upon  these 
mighty  monsters  of  vegetation,  and  viewed  them  with  an 
educated  eye,  between  thirty  and  forty  standing  from  two 
liundred  and  forty  to  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet 
above  the  ground,  and  measuring  from  forty  to  eighty  feet 
in  circumference,  we  took  to  hexameters. 

"  This  is  the  forest  primeval.     The  murmuring  pines  and  the  hemloclis 
Stand  like  Druids  of  old  with  voices  sad  and  prophetic  ; 
Stand  like  harpers  hoar,  with  beards  that  rest  on  their  bosoms. 
This  is  the  forest  primeval,  but  where  are  the  hearts  that  beneath  it 
Leaped  like  the  roe  when  he  hears  in  the  woodland  the  voice  of  the 
huntsman." 

Had  there  indeed  been  human  hearts  in  this  wilderness? 
Were  these  forests  "  primeval  ? " 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  189 

Dr.  K.  had  said  to  me,  less  than  forty-eight  hours  before, 
"  Those  big  trees  are  the  greatest  wonder.  The  Yosemite 
Valley  can  be  accounted  for  by  an  earthquake  or  a  volcanic 
commotion,  but  the  big  trees  have  been  growing  century 
after  century ;  with  the  Anno  Domini  they  burst  into 
being ;  steadfastly,  silently,  through  eighteen  centuries  they 
have  struck  their  roots  into  the  earth  and  swelled  their 
mighty  trunks  and  lifted  higher  and  higher  their  slender 
branches.  Year  by  year  they  have  added  the  little  ring  that 
marks  their  age,  till  now  they  number  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  birth-lines.  I  sometimes  think  they  ai-e  ante-(\\\\\- 
vians,  for  there  is  nothing  in  vegetation  or  in  nature  that  is 
equal  or  like  unto  them." 

With  these  words  still  ringing  in  my  ears,  I  clambered 
up  some  thirty  feet  or  more,  and  walked  a  block  or  so  on 
the  huge  side  of  the  Father  of  the  Forest,  as  he  lay  prone 
upon  the  earth.  Then  I  found  another  that  one  could  ride 
through  as  if  it  were  a  tunnel,  and  we  saw  one  measured 
with  a  cord,  and  found  by  actual  present  measurement  that 
it  was  sixty -five  feet  in  circumference.  Then  I  had  a 
fierce  little  debate  with  a  cranky,  troublesome  elf  who  is 
forever  contradicting  me  and  upsetting  all  my  poetic  and 
aesthetic  apprehensions  of  "the  good,  the  true  and  the  beau- 
tiful."    He  said  to  me  : 

"  Do  you  believe  that  those  trees  are  coeval  with  the  cre- 
ation ?" 

I  thought  of  the  flood,  and  Noah,  and  the  extraordinary 
state  of  things  that  first  raven  found  when  he  went  out  to 
seek  his  fortune,  and  I  answered  meekly  enough  : 

"  No,  I  do  not." 

Said  the  sprite  (whose  name  is  Common  Sense) : 

"  Do  you  believe  that  these  trees  burst  into  being  when 
the  rocks  were  rent  at  Calvary?" 


190  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

"  It  would  be  a  grand  thought  that  these  imite  monsters 
had  breasted  the  centuries  to  testify  in  their  dumb  way  to 
eighteen  hundred  years  of  life." 

"  Would  it  be  a  true  thought  ?" 

Then  I  shook  the  wretch  with  not  a  little  asperity,  and 
said  :     "  Hold  your  graceless  tongue."     But  he  went  on  : 

"  Are  they  such  an  exceptional  species?  Are  there  not 
young  big  trees  growing  very  rapidly  all  through  these  for- 
ests ?  Are  they  not  enough  like  the  red  wood  of  the  coun- 
try to  be  nearly  identical  in  color  and  grain  of  timber  ? 
How  do  you  think  these  trees  compare  as  monstrosities  with 
the  squashes  and  cucumbers  of  a  climate  that  has  no  season 
for  rest  in  its  vegetable  growths  ?  Ah,  Mrs.  S.,  don't 
believe  any  poetical  trash  ;  stick  to  facts,  stick  to  facts." 

And  so  I  walked  about  viewing  these  wonderful  red- 
woods as  grand  massive  facts  of  mammoth  vegetation,  not 
antiquity. 

Saturday,  May  25. — Bade  adieu  to  Murphy's  at  seven  a.  m. 
It  was  a  comfortable  resting-place — may  we  never  do  worse. 

Staging  is  staging — no  one  need  tell  me  after  this  that 
he  went  ly  stage  !!  from  Carlisle,  Penn.,  to  New  York 
City,  or  from  Penn  Yan,  Yates  Co.,  N.  Y.,  to  Pittsfield, 
Mass.  We  have  gone  by  stage  too — the  martyrs  of  to-day 
are  just  as  sore  (I  think  a  little  sorer)  than  those  of  half  a 
century  ago,  and  hills  are  hills  all  the  world  over ;  but  the 
foot  hills  of  the  Sierras  are,  in  the  language  of  the  country, 
"  a  touch  beyond."  Hour  by  hour  we  climb  and  climb ; 
then  for  thirty  minutes  we  will  tear  down  hill  at  a  rate  that 
would  warrant  us  in  never  expecting  anything  less  pleasant 
than  total  annihilation;  then  we  climb  again,  and  zig-zag 
our  way  up  a  narrow  little  ledge  of  road,  live  feet  broad, 
that  clings  to  the  side  of  the  mountain  ;  if  we  look  over  this 
small  rim,  we  see  a  straight  side,  down,  down,  down,  hun- 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  191 

dreds  and  hundreds  of  feet.  There  are  eight  inches,  be  the 
same  more  or  less,  between  us  and  ''  unmitigated  smash  ; " 
but  Dunning  trims  his  wheels  with  the  brake,  and  his 
steady,  sure-footed  four-horse  team  plod  safely  round  every 
curve  and  angle,  while  we  slowly  and  steadily  mount  higher 
and  higher.  The  country  is  lovely,  and  very  "  various"  in 
its  scenery;  sometimes  we  are  shadowed  in  by  dense  high 
forests,  then  again  we  are  gradually  taking  a  down  slope 
into  lovely  fruitful  valleys,  so  peaceful  and  deliciously  quiet, . 
that  I  begin  to  dream  once  more  that  dream  of  my  girlhood, 
which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  I  confided  to  the  party — "A  Cali- 
fornia Eanch."     Mr.  W.  opens  the  conversation  with  — 

"Mr.  D.,  there  would  be  a  grand  chance  for  Mrs.  S.'s 
ranch." 

"  Yes,"  is  the  reply,  "  she  was  born  to  shine  in  solitude. 
News  or  friends'  faces  would  never  trespass  here,  and  these 
roads  be  good  discipline  for  Dr.  S.;  three  miles  an  hour 
would  break  his  spirit.  Sentiment  might  grow  monotonous 
with  some^  but  not  with  her ;  it  would  not  be  much  of  an 
improvement  to  me  on  being  dead  and  buried,  but  for  a 
lady  with  a  vocation  for  a  ranch,  of  course,  it  is  another 
thing." 

And  then  my  ideal  life  is  so  effectually  ventilated  by  the 
common  sense  gibes  of  the  whole  party,  that  I  am  truly 
thankful  when  we  come  in  sight  of  a  house — a  two-story 
frame  building — there's  no  romance  in  that — that  is  inhab- 
ited by  one  man  and  one  woman.  She  evidently  is  not  a 
person  who  exerts  herself  ;  and  takes  no  interest  in  our 
reaching  Jacksonville.  The  road  flats  out  here  and  there, 
and  is  so  grown  over  with  grass  that  we  are  not  at  all 
certain  about  our  getting  out  of  this  Happy  Valley.  Dun- 
ning has  never  been  on  this  route  before,  but  he  "  guesses 
it's  all  right,"  and  chirps  to  his  leader,  and  adds  to  his  voice 


192  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

the  persuasiveness  of  the  lash,  so  that  ere  long  we  are  at 

the  ferry.     A  sharp  turn  of  the  road  brings  us  in  full  sight 

of  the  Stanislaus,  or  as  it  is  pronounced,  "  Stanislow."     A 

ferryman's  tiny  little  house  nestles  away  under  the  edge  of 

the  hillside ;   a  fig  tree  or  two,  shades  it ;   grape  vines  grow 

here  and  there  ;   the  sun  beats  pitilessly  on  one's  head,  and 

the  rushing  rapid  river  shoots  past  like  an  arrow  from  a 

bow.     It   is  ten    o'clock,  and  the  Scylla   of   this   solitude 

informs  us  that  we  must  wait  an  hour  ere  we  can  attempt 

to  cross — that  the  river  must  fall  four  inches  before  it  is 

safe  ;   the  melted  snows  of  yesterday  have  raised  the  water 

and  given  such  impetus  to  the  stream,  that  we  must  wait ; 

so  we  wander  forth  to  sail   boats  and   study  the  current. 

Dunning  plays  seven-up  or  poker,  with  the  ferryman,  and 

beats  him  to  the  tune  of  two  dolhirs  and  a-lialf,  just  our 

ferriage.     By  this  time  our  Scotch  Scylla  thinks  we  might 

as  well  try  to  go  over.     The  ferry  is  a  long,  flat-bottomed 

boat,  that  is  moved  by  means  of  a  chain  stretched  across  the 

river,  upon  which  a  pulley  runs  in  such  a  way  that  the  boat 

seems  to  get  forward  without  much  diflSculty.     I  have  seen 

the  same  sort  of  ferry  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  but  here  it 

looked  far  more  dangerous,  and  some  one  said,  as  the  boat 

swept  into  the  stream  with  us  : 

"  Know  the  old  ford  on  the  Fork  that  nearly  got  Flanigan's  leaders, 
Nasty  in  daylight,  you  bet,  and  a  mighty  rough  ford  in  low  water  ; 
Well,  it  ain't  six  weeks  ago  that  me  and  the  Jedge  and  his  nevey 
Struck  for  that  ford  in  the  night,  and  the  rain  and  the  water  all 

round  us ; 
Up  to  our  flanks  in  the  gulch,  and  Rattlesnake  Creek  jest  a  UUn'; 
Not  a  plank  left  in  the  dam,  and  nary  a  bridge  on  the  river  ; 
I  had  the  gray,  and  the  Jedge  had  his  roan,  and  his  nevey,  CMquita; 
And  after  us  trundled  the  rocks  jest  loosed  from  the  top  of  the  canon, 
Lickity,  lickity  switch,  we  came  to  the  ford,  and  Chiquita 
Buckled  right  down  to  her  work,  and  afore  I  could  yell  to  her  rider. 
Took  water  jest  at  the  ford,  and  there  was  the  Jedge  and  me  standin', 
And  twelve  hundred  dollars  of  horseflesh  a  driftin'  to  thunder/  " 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  193. 

At  this  point  of  tlie  poem  it  looked  very  much  as  if  we 
were  going  the  way  of  Chiquita ;  the  mad,  angry  torrent 
tugged  at  the  boat  and  swept  it  endwise  into  the  stream ; 
the  impetus  of  every  yellow  drop  bade  fair  to  make  our 
fate  that  of  the  "  Nevey  : " 

"  Drownded,  I  reckon — leastways,  he  never  kem  back  to  deny  it." 

And  yet  tliere  was  a  grand  excitement  in  our  peril. 
Every  eye  gleamed,  and  the  whole  party  would  have  been 
swept  under  without  a  shriek.  The  very  horses  snuffed  their 
danger,  and  Dunning  stood  ready  at  one  carriage,  and  Mr. 
Hubbell  at  the  other,  to  loosen  them  and  give  them  a 
chance — but  they  did  not  need  it ;  a  few  moments  sufficed 
for  the  passage  of  the  most  dangerous  part  of  the  river,  and 
in  another  ten  minutes  we  were  staging  it  once  more. 

At  twelve  m.  reached  Sonora,  and  lunched  on  very  unpleas- 
ant bread  and  cheese  and  uncommonly  solid  pie.  Here  our 
horses  were  to  be  baited,  and  I  went  comfortably  to  bed 
and  slept  an  hour,  so  that  I  was  fresh  for  the  gold  dig- 
gings of  Shaw's  Flat,  Columbia,  Poverty  Bar,  and  the 
Gold  Springs  Yineyards. 

I  do  not  know  how  to  express  the  value  of  water  in  this 
climate,  or  to  tell  what  it  does.  A  single  little  stream,  four 
or  six  feet  broad  and  one  or  two  deep,  will  make  the 
wilderness  blossom  like  the  rose  ;  a  town  grows  up  around 
it,  and  vines,  vegetables  and  liuman  beings  flourish,  wine 
cellars  are  built,  and  peace  and  prosperity  reigns. 

As  to  the  gold  diggers,  theirs  is  a  miserable  existence  ; 
it  is  a  surface  work  uncommonly  like  ditch  digging,  and 
while,  of  course,  it  was  curious,  it  was  very  disenchanting. 

At  last  we  reached  Jacksonville.  I  do  not  know  why 
this  should  have  been  such  a  point  of  approach  in  our  day's 
work,  unless  it  was  that  just  a  little  beyond  it  we  crossed 
the  Tuolumne  River — "  Two-wallow-me  "  is  the  unexpected 


194  MRS.   MORSE  STEWART. 

pronunciation  of  the  name  of  this  beautiful  stream.  The 
ferry  was  almost  precisely  like  that  on  the  Stanislaus,  but 
the  river  is  narrower  and  looks  deeper.  As  we  were 
waiting  for  the  boat,  I  noticed  a  rather  elderly  looking 
miner,  with  steel-grey  eyes,  watching  us  very  intently. 
There  was  an  ease  and  grace  in  the  man's  manner  entirely 
at  variance  with  his  checked  shirt  and  boots  to  his  hips. 
He  was  quick  to  see  that  I  appreciated  his  best  points,  for 
as  we  passed  and  re-passed  him  in  a  rapid  walk  on  the  piers, 
he  at  last  made  bold  to  say  : 

"  Are  you  going  to  the  Valley  ? " 

"  We  are." 

"  You  will  find  it  cold  on  the  higher  Sierras ;  the  path- 
master  has  been  down  here  and  says  the  snow  is  still  eight 
feet  deep,  and  that  the  men  who  have  been  digging  out  the 
trail  are  all  snow-blinded,  while  they  have  eight  miles  yet 
to  do.     He  came  down  to  get  his  blue  goggles." 

"  Well,  my  friend,"  I  made  answer,  "  we  are  greatly 
obliged  for  your  information,  but  we  are  going  forward  all 
the  same.     I  never  cross  a  bridge  till  I  come  to  it." 

The  steel-grey  eyes  gleamed  and  flashed  like  merry  light- 
ning at  us,  and  I  bade  him  a  smiling  adieu,  determined  to 
keep  this  extraordinary  statement  to  myself. 

On  the  ferry,  I  noticed  a  miner  who  led  on  a  forlorn 
white  nag,  and  strapped  to  the  back  of  the  saddle  was  a 
pair  of  heavy  hob-nailed  boots,  with  legs  long  enough  for  a 
son  of  Anak. 

Crossing  the  river  is  truly  a  new  sensation ;  seeing  the 
dash  of  the  water,  feeling  the  rapidity  and  force  of  the 
current,  even  the  peculiar  ferriage,  in  these  days  when  a 
woman's  journeying  is  invariably  in  "  a  first-class  carriage 
of  ease,"  had  the  freshness  of  agreeable  novelty.  But  too 
soon  we  were  out  of  the  sight  of  water,  and  staging  for- 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  195 

ward  through  the  silent  forest — silent  as  death.  The  still- 
ness is  so  subtle  that  it  enters  into  one's  soul,  and  drives  a 
vague,  mj'sterious  awe  to  the  motionless  shadows  of  the 
over-arching  trees.  No  birds  sing,  no  wind  blows,  no  squir- 
rel or  rabbit  flies  before  us — no  life,  save  the  vegetable  life 
of  this  rich  soil,  is  presented  to  us  in  any  shape;  all  is  quiet, 
with  a  quietness  that  makes  one  think  of  those  Sabbaths 
with  their 

"  Sacred,  liigb,  eternal  noon." 

No  one  attempts  to  account  for  this  utter  absence  of  liv- 
ing creatures  from  these  Sierras  ;  in  fact,  from  almost  all 
California,  but  they  are  conspicuously  absent.  As  the 
day  began  to  decline,  we  again  crossed  the  Tuolumne,  this 
time  upon  a  bridge,  where  the  carriage  stopped  for  some 
moments  that  we  might  have  a  satisfactory  view  of  the 
falls,  which  are  very  fine.  Then  we  began  an  ascent  of 
fifteen  hundred  feet  to  the  mile.  At  the  base  of  this  hill 
we  stopped  for  breath,  ere  mounting  so  suddenlj^,  and  saw 
a  pretty  little  farm  house,  and  a  large  flock  of  goats  of  some 
peculiar  variety;  Dunning  said  "it  was  a  speculation." 
Perhaps  his  history  would  be  like  that  of  Briggs,  of 
Tuolumne,  who 

"Busted  himself  iu  White  Pine,  and 
Blew  out  his  brains  down  to  Frisco." 

That  was  the  way  with  most  of  them. 

The  sun  was  sinkinfi^  behind  a  huo;e  clifi:  at  the  west  of 

CD  O 

us,  and  its  rays  slanted  in  golden  bars  across  the  narrow 
road  up  which  we  were  to  climb.  The  air  came  with  a 
chilly  softness  from  the  mountains,  and  the  weary  horses 
plodded  step  by  step  upward  and  onward.  The  men  of  the 
party  said  they  would  lighten  the  draught  upon  them,  and 
so  Mr.  W.,  Will,  and  Dunning  started  off  on  foot,  leaving 
Mr.  D.  to  drive. 


196  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

There  came  a  grand  inspiration  into  the  hearts  of  us  all ; 
no  words  were  spoken  the  weary  day,  for  it  had  been  a 
weary  day,  full  of  extremities  and  fatigues,  and  was  draw- 
ing to  a  close.  Nightfall  was  overtaking  us  ;  on  the  snow- 
capped hill  glowed  the  glory  of  the  sun's  setting,  the  rare- 
fied air  sealed  our  lips  with  a  kiss  of  silence,  and  the  vista 
of  the  ever  upward  road  seemed  to  end  at  the  gray  portals 
of  a  better  world.  How  can  I  put  here  upon  this  blank, 
unsympathetic  paper  the  thoughts  that  thrilled  through 
every  fiber  of  my  brain.  What  cold,  dead  things  words 
are;  how  empty  their  sound,  how  senseless  their  meaning 
as  compared  with  the  grand  outreach  of  one's  spirit  after 
the  infinite  things  of  God. 

"  'Tis  in  the  mountains  that  one  feels  his  faith." 

And  there  alone,  with  the  world  far  beneath  and  below  you 
and  Pleaven  so  near  above,  vour  heart  breaks  forth  in  the 
benedictus  of  the  psalmist :  "  Praise  ye  the  Lord,  praise  ye 
the  Lord  from  the  heavens;  praise  Him  in  the  heights, 
praise  ye  Him  all  His  angels  ;  praise  ye  Him  all  His  hosts ; 
praise  ye  Him  sun  and  moon  ;  praise  Him  all  ye  stars  of 
light ;  praise  Him  ye  heavens  of  heavens  and  ye  waters 
that  be  above  the  heavens  ;  let  them  praise  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  for  lie  commanded  and  they  were  created  ;  praise 
ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  God  in  His  sanctuary  ;  praise  Him  in 
the  firmament  of  His  power ;  praise  Him  for  His  miglity 
acts ;  praise  Him  according  to  His  excellent  greatness  ;  let 
everything    that   has  breath   praise  the  Lord  ;  Pkaise  ye 

THE  LOKD ! " 

Sunday,  May  26. — The  Psalms  of  David  are  a  great 
resource  in  a  mountainous  country — and  yet  David  never 
saw,  and  probably  never  dreamed  of  seeing,  such  wonderful 
scenery  as  last  night  thrilled  my  heart  with  ecstasy.  Five 
hundred,  eight   hundred,  twelve  hundred    feet,  may  give 


-&\ 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  197 

some  idea  of  height  and  depth  to  one  who  has  all  his  life 
had  a  measnring-line  in  his  hand ;  but  to  a  woman  who 
never  gets  bej^ond  three  feet  making  a  yard,  and  twenty 
yards  making  a  dress,  these  figures  do  not  mean  as  much  as 
they  might ;  and  the  pictures  these  wonderful  combinations 
of  hill  and  valley  produce  are  not  to  be  painted  with  any 
tourist's  pencil.  Mr,  D.,  who  generally  does  his  summing- 
up  in  a  sentence,  remarked  with  great  pertinence  :  "  I  might 
have  sat  at  home  in  my  library  and  read  about  '  foot-hills,' 
and  thought  I  understood  all  about  them,  but  it  would  have 
been  a  grand  mistake — I  know  now^  For  a  foot-hill  is  not 
alone  rocks,  or  verdure-covered  earth  massed  higher  and 
higher.  ]^o !  a  foot-hill  is  more — it  is  a  mysterious  men- 
tal preparation  for  the  positive,  comparative,  and  finally 
superlative  exaltation  of  the  mountain  tops. 

After  reaching  Kirkwood's,  which  is  on  the  little  piece  of 
table  land  to  which  the  fifteen  hundred  feet  brought  as,  we 
looked  out  on  the  gathering  gloom  of  the  night,  but  there 
was  mercifully  no  more  to  be  seen,  and  we  rode  on  in  the 
darkness,  thinking  the  thoughts  that  had  no  expression 
while  we  went  forward  in  tiie  mechanical  fashion  of  all 
travelers. 

Oak  Flat  is  a  mystery  to  us  yet ;  whether  it  is  an  inhab- 
ited spot,  or  only  a  name  by  which  they  mark  distance,  I 
cannot  tell ;  but  Garrote  was  a  hamlet,  or  a  village,  or  a 
town,  or  perhaps  a  city,  for  through  the  black  night  shone 
stars  that  indicated  "  a  light  in  the  window  "  —  but,  alas  ! 
not  for  us.  There  was  to  be  a  hall,  and  the  ball-room 
(twelve  by  sixteen  feet),  was  illuminated  by  three  feeble 
tallow  candles.  We  were  not  invited,  or  I  inevitably  would 
have  gone  ;  for  I  longed  to  see  whether  the  dwellers  in  this 
upper  region  ever  lost  the  sense  of  the  grand  surroundings 
in  which  their  lives  were  framed. 


198  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

The  hotel,  which  we  reached  between  eight  and  nine 
o'clock,  was  a  comfortable  place,  with  a  carpet  and  sewing 
machine,  and  a  lounge  in  the  parlor — a  good  snpper  in  the 
dining-room,  and  a  respectable  and  very  clean  bed,  on  the 
funniest  little  home-made  bedstead.  Pitchers,  basins,  towels, 
a  strip  of  carpet  and  a  chair,  were  enough  for  each  seven- 
bj-nine  bed  room.  I  confess  I  did  not  sleep  yevy  much, 
but  it  was  no  fault  of  the  accommodations  ;  for  surging 
back  upon  me  came  the  memory  of  those  mountains  in 
their  mysterious  veils  of  mist  and  cloud  ;  for 

"My  soul  kept  up  too  much  light 
Under  my  eyelids,  for  the  night. 
And  thus  I  rose  disquieted. 
With  sweet  sounds  ringing  through  my  head." 

This,  after  all,  is  the  true  benefit  of  getting  out  of  the 
narrow,  deep  rut  of  one's  social  surroundings,  for  it  is  a 
different  mental  atmosphere. 

It  was  decided  before  we  retired  last  night,  that  we  might 
make  a  Sabbath  day's  journey,  or,  as  Dunning  expressed  it, 
"  Do  a  short  day's  work  that  would  do  for  Sunday,"  and 
rest  at  a  point  comparatively  near  "  the  Valley." 

From  Garrote  they  telegraphed  to  Hutchings  to  have  a 
saddle  train  meet  us  at  the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  at  half- 
past  eight  this  morning  we  were  again  en  route.  We  passed 
through  Second  Garrote,  Sprague's  Ranch,  Big  Gap.  and  at 
twelve  M.  reached  Hardin's  This  house  I  remember ;  but 
the  others  were  such  indefinite,  shabby,  forlorn  little  make- 
believes  of  towns,  villages,  liamlets,  etc.,  that  like  the 
thimble-rigger's  little  game,  "Now  you  see  it,  and  now 
you  don't,"  you  could  never  tell  which  tree  the  town  was 
under. 

Hardin's  was  a  little  frame  house,  belonging  to  an  old 
bachelor,  an  educated  Englishman,  who  having  been  crossed 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  199 

in  love,  and  tricked  in  business,  retired  years  ago  to  this 
hermitage.  Society  followed  him  ;  whole  stage  loads  drew 
up  at  his  door  and  declared  they  would  repose  in  his  sanc- 
tum, and  must  be  fed.  Mr.  Ilardin  has  tried  in  every  way 
to  get  rid  of  this  incubus  from  the  outside  world — for,  as 
he  is  his  own  maid-of -all-work,  it  is  inconvenient  as  well  as 
unpleasant.  Latterly  in  self-defense  he  had  kept  a  keg  of 
Avhisky  (this  is  the  national  drink  beyond  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains), and  a  box  of  soda  crackers,  which  is  the  standard 
alimentation.  But,  Hardin,  hearing  that  the  road  was  to  be 
open,  had  on  our  arrival,  locked  up  his  premises  and  fled. 
There  was  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  keep  on  until  we 
reached  Brunson's  Meadows,  which  is  situated  in  a  little 
hollow  of  rich  ground,  around  which  the  hills  rise  on  every 
side.  Before  reaching  this  spot,  which  we  did  at  three  p.  m., 
we  passed  the  upper  falls  of  the  Tuolumne  River,  and  again 
had  one  of  those  wonderful  combinations  of  wood,  water 
<ind  hillside,  that  photograph  themselves  forever  on  one's 
mind. 

Brunson's  Meadow  Hotel  is  rougher  than  that  at  Garrote. 
"When  the  good  woman  of  the  liouse  saw  such  an  avalanche 
of  guests  pouring  in  upon  her,  she  was  like  tlie  father  of 
the  prodigal,  and  sent  Chinamen  and  ranclimen  flying  in  all 
directions  to  kill  a  fatted  calf.  The  dogs  joined  with  the 
men  in  their  excited  chase  after  the  doomed  animal — the 
cows  were  frantic  with  grief,  and  anything  but  mellifluous 
in  their  expression  of  it.  Tiie  rocks  took  up  aiid  repro- 
duced on  every  side  the  wild  uproar,  until  a  stronger  signif- 
icance than  I  ever  dreamed  of  was  given  to  the  expressions : 
"  Tiie  bulls  of  Bashan  have  beset  me  round  about ; "  and 
"The  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills"  were  within  a  stone's 
tlirow  of  each  other.  Then,  too,  thin  air,  pure  and  vibrat- 
ing, intensified  all  sound,  and  for  sixteen  liours  there  was  a 


200  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

tumult  that  was  calculated  to  drive  you  deaf  or  mad.  The 
rest  of  the  Sabbath — the  quiet  of  the  Sabbath  evening  v^ras 
a  myth,  when  so  many  cattle  and  hills  combined  against  it. 

We  retired  early,  though  not  to  sleep,  and  on  my  bed  I 
noticed  six  of  the  thickest  California  blankets.  "Oh!" 
said  the  landlady,  "you  will  need  them  all  before  morning; 
about  four  it's  cold  up  here.'-  She  was  no  false  prophet, 
for  the  night  chill  penetrated  to  the  marrow  of  your  bones. 

Monday  Morning,  May  27. — Left  Brunson's  Meadow  at 
seven  a.  m.,  expecting  to  reach  the  Yosemite  Valley  by  one 
p.  M.  The  drive  was  delicious.  I  had  forewarned  the  party 
of  the  "  eight  feet  of  snow,"  and  they  all  looked  upon  the 
statement  as  a  Munchausenism.  We  took  wraps  and  rub- 
bers and  leggings  enough,  however,  to  keep  us  comfortable. 
On  our  way  we  stopped  and  saw  many  of  the  big  trees  of 
the  Tuolumne  Grove,  and  measured  ordinary  forest  trees 
of  other  species ;  twenty-five  and  twenty-eight  feet  in  cir- 
cumference was  a  very  common  size.  As  we  approached 
Tamarack  Flat,  the  snow-flowers  had  sprung  up  in  all  their 
blood-red  fungus  beauty,  along  the  whole  snow-line.  They 
were,  to  me,  a  very  astonishing  production  of  an  extreme 
temperature  of  the  soil ;  in  thick,  pulpy  texture,  in  lambent 
richness  of  color,  in  delicate  petals,  yet  firm  hyacinthian 
spikes,  they  more  resembled  the  exquisite  cacti  of  the 
green-house  than  aught  else.  And  yet  they  seemed  so  out 
of  nature — as  if  the  flower-world,  through  these  peculiar 
fungi,  expressed  its  passion ;  for  these  flowers  were  defrauded 
of  their  rights  as  flowers,  and  blushed  hot  frantic  red 
because  they  could  be  no  more  than  mushrooms. 

Dunning,  who  has  had  much  experience  getting  people 
in  and  out  of  "  the  Valley,"  told  me  an  absurd  story  of  Mrs. 

C S ,  who   is   quite    stout,  decidedly  elderly,  and 

withal  very  "  advanced  "  on  the  subject  of  her  rights.     She 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  201 

gave  wonderful  reminiscences  of  lier  fine  riding  ;  but,  when 
thej  got  her  to  the  top  of  the  Mountain,  and  had  hfted  her 
into  the  saddle,  she  screamed  to  be  taken  down,  for  "  the 
thing  was  all  wrong."  Twenty  times  did  the  indefatigable 
Dunning  get  that  old  dame  ready  to  start ;  but  no  sooner 
was  she  on  than  she  would  be  off  again.  His  patience 
becoming  exhausted,  he  deputed  the  task  to  a  guide.  They 
are  men  selected  for  their  patience,  and  this  one  tried  his 
best.  "No,  she  would  walk."  "ISTo,  she  would  ride." 
"  No,  she  would  never  walk."  "  No,  she  would  never  ride." 
Two  hours  and  a-half,  and  then  the  guide  marched  off,  and, 
seating  himself  on  a  rock,  he -surveyed  the  unfortunate  and 
helpless  female  with  unmitigated  disgust,  as,  in  pointed 
contempt,  and  a  finger  like  a  sign-post,  he  remarked  : 

"  Look  at  that  darned  old  fool.  She  '  can't  ride,'  and  she 
'can't  walk,'  and  she  wants  to  vote  ! ! ! " 

About  half-past  nine  we  began  crossing  patches  of  snow  ; 
and  just  here  I  noticed  the  same  old  white  horse,  and  the 
identical  hob-nailed  boots  at  the  back  of  the  saddle,  that 
had  crossed  the  Tuolumne  river  with  us  on  the  Jackson- 
ville ferry ;  the  rider  wore  blue  goggles,  and  I  knew  he  was 
the  man  who  had  reported  the  state  of  the  bridle-path.     Mr. 

D ,  and  the  party  generally,  regarded  the  "  eight  feet  of 

snow"  a  "canard;"  and  Dunning,  who  was  as  truthful  as 
Sam  Weller  himself,  had  told  us  "  not  to  believe  a  word  of 
it,  no  matter  if  it  was  true."  Mile  by  mile,  as  we  rode 
along,  we  had  frequent  inquiries  about  "Mrs.  S.'s  snow." 
Now  things  were  coming  to  a  climax,  and  the  identical 
originator  of  the  story  appeared  on  the  scene.  At  once  I 
became  irrepressible.  Dunning  was  called  upon  to  halt, 
while  the  blue  goggles  were  interrogated.  lie  answered 
like  a  witness  in  the  box.     He  "  had  told  this  story,"  and 

19 


202  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

"it  was  true;"  the  snow  was  eight  feet  deep,  and  there 
was  yet  eight  miles  of  the  trail  to  dig  out.  Within  five 
minutes  we  were  driving  through  patches  of  wall  five  feet 
high,  and  the  man's  assertion  was  well  nigh  confirmed.  Yet 
this  snow  seemed  but  drifts,  after  all.  Still  the  walls  grew 
longer,  and  higher  ;  and  at  ten  a.  m.  our  stage  stuck  fast 
between  two  snow-walls  seven  feet  high.  We  could  neither 
go  forward  nor  backward.  Everything  had  happened 
according  to  prediction  ;  and  yet  it  was  not  so  very  dread- 
ful, for  we  climbed  out  of  the  door  up  on  to  the  toj)  of  a 
snow-bank,  and  walked  off,  one  by  one,  upon  a  surface  as 
solid  and  almost  as  dry  as  the,  floor.  Here  we  must  await 
the  saddle  train  from  the  Valley  to  meet  us.  Dunning  got 
the  California  Mr.  H ,  and  a  stage-driver  who  was  com- 
ing on  behind,  to  help  him,  and  they  soon  chopped  a 
passage  for  our  vehicle ;  but  we  walked  on  and  sat  down 
under  some  great  sugar  pines,  whose  cones  furnished 
material  for  the  loveliest  fire ;  this  I  built  up  and  culti- 
vated, until  the  wind,  which  had  veered  to  every  ^^oint  of 
the  compass,  discouraged  me.  Moreover,  we  did  not  need 
any  more  heat,  and  already  began  taking  off  our  wrappings  ; 
for,  in  spite  of  the  snow,  the  temperature  was  balmy  and 
spring-like.  At  eleven  o'clock  K.  and  I  concluded  to  take  a 
little  excursion.  Less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  brouglit  us 
to  some  of  the  glorious  mountain  views  of  this  magnificent 
region.  We  saw  how  the  snow  melted  from  beneath,  and 
all  that  my  brother  S.  had  ever  told  me  about  "•  the  locked 
forces  "  flashed  into  my  mind,  and  the  mystery  of  a  month 
ago  was  tlie  A,  B,  C,  of  an  observer  on  the  mountain  top. 
Truly,  seeing  is  believing — especially  when  one  is  up  in  the 
world  Y,500  feet. 

Between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  waiting  began  to  be 
monotonous.     Had  we  been  English  people  we  would  have 


TRIP   TO    CALIFORNIA.  203 

taken  our  hindrances  more  wisely  and  patiently  ;  but,  being 
Americans,  with  all  the  imperious  "  drive  "  of  our  nation, 
we  rebelled.  After  expressing  our  minds  freely  on  the 
subject  of  keeping  people  in  a  state  of  starvation  in  such  a 
latitude,  Mr.  W.,  who  had  grown  ver}'^  ennuye,  proposed 
the  inevitable  "  game  of  cards,"  I  returned  to  my  fire,  and 
with  the  aid  of  Mr.  H.,  of  Houghton,  Michigan,  dammed 
a  little  stream  and  flooded  out  the  flame — from  time  to 
time  glancing  round  the  camp,  and  seeing  perched  on  a 
huge  rock  "a  euchre  party" — in  one  of  the  stages  "a 
poker  party"  (at  which  Dunning  assisted,  of  course) — and, 
under  the  pine  trees,  two  women  who  had  forgotten  every- 
thing but  their  childhood  game  of  water  and  sand. 

At  one  o'clock,  a  little  New  York  boy,  of  eight  or  nine, 
with  long  gold  curls  and  flashing  eyes,  dashed  in  among  us 
and  shouted  "  Here  they  are !"  In  a  few  moments  his 
mother  followed  him  at  a  smart  canter,  her  own  blonde 
-hair  flowing  in  golden  ripples  down  her  back.  The  inde- 
fatigable guide,  Joe  Ridgeway,  before  aiding  her  to  dis- 
mount, produced  from  his  various  pockets  many  sunny 
strands  and  golden  switches,  which  he  parenthetically 
remarked,  "  She  had  took  off  in  sections."  Ten  minutes 
more  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  C.  McG.,  of  Detroit,  stole  softly  and 
quietly  into  camp  ;  the  latter,  poor  lady,  was  riding  as  in 
the  days  of  "  Good  Queen  Bess,"  and  was  altogether  too 
weary  to  get  herself  off  the  poor  little  animal  she  bestrode. 
When  the  guides  lifted  her  out  of  the  saddle  she  col- 
lapsed in  one  limp  mass  upon  the  turf,  and  lay  folded  up 
in  a  little  heap  of  exhausted  nature  that  was  rather  dis- 
heartening. She  made  no  moan — but  she  did  say,  "she 
was  glad  it  was  over,  and  did  not  think  she  would  ever  do 
it  again."  Think  of  it — here,  on  Tamarack  Flat,  were 
gathered  no  less  than  a  dozen  people  from  our  own  State. 


204  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

This  time  I  did    not  wait  for  Mr.  Mansfield's  voice,  but 

chanted — 

"Michigan,  my  Michigan. " 

To  which  K.  and  the  echoes  responded.  "When  we  looked 
over  the  horses  sent  out  for  us,  we  found  for  six  ladies  they 
had  sent  four  side-saddles  and  two  "Bloomers."  K.  and  I 
being  considered  (and  considering  ourselves)  the  equestri- 
ennes of  the  party,  accepted  these  latter  nondescript  mon- 
strosities as  our  share.  Mr.  D.,  quietly  and  rather  patheti- 
cally, bequeathed  his  wife  (my  little  sister)  to  my  care 
while  he  went  off,  and  I  hiow  tried  to  recover  his  lost 
horsemanship.  A  quarter  of  a  century  is  a  long  time  to  be 
out  of  the  saddle,  but  a  couple  of  miles  made  quite  a  cava- 
lier of  him.  Mrs.  D.  did  admirably ;  and,  at  the  end  of 
twenty  minutes,  when  she  found  she  was  not  dead — that 
her  brains  were  not  bespattering  the  snow — she,  too,  began 
to  take  heart.  Just  then  I  heard  the  tinkling  of  bells  on  a 
train  of  pack-mules,  and,  as  we  were  in  a  very  narrow 
gorge,  drew  Mrs.  D.  as  quickly  as  I  could  into  the  hollow 
of  a  small  rock.  In  a  second,  the  little  wretches  dashed  by, 
with  their  immense  packs  swinging  in  a  top-heavy  fashion 
on  their  backs,  and  looking  each  moment  as  if  every  one 
would  upset,  and  tip  over  the  four  little  legs  that  ran 
under  it. 

Very  soon  we  came  to  where  the  snow  began  to  be  soft 
and  crumbling,  letting  us  in  at  every  tenth  step,  and 
making  it  rather  hard  lines  on  the  down-hill  places.  Now, 
what  shall  I  say  of  mj^self  ?  It  is  pleasanter  always  to  give 
other  people's  experience  than  one's  own,  and  yet — 

Suffice  it  that  the  little  white  pony,  "  Peter,"  had  a  stifle 
joint  that  gave  out  unexpectedly  in  the  most  undesirable 
places ;  that  he  was  so  starved  as  to  be  willing  and  anxious 
to  eat  the  dry  needles  of  the  sugar-pines  that  had  fallen  to 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  205 

the  ground ;  that  the  -Bloo77ier-sa,dd\e  was  an  abomination 
to  which  language  is  inadequate ;  the  stirrups  were  too 
long,  and  then  they  were  too  short.  I  could  have  ridden 
barebacked,  lady's  fashion,  with  comfort  and  self-respect, 
but  this  method  of  locomotion,  which  politeness  had  forced 
upon  me,  became  momentarily  more  and  more  annoying. 
Then,  too,  it  was  growing  late  in  the  day ;  we  had  tasted 
no  food  for  over  eight  hours,  and  had  miles  yet  to  get 
to  Gentry's — a  house  on  the  top  of  the  Mountain.  Step  by 
step,  and  second  by  second,  we  kept  on  our  way.  Mr. 
D.  rode  up  and  overtook  us.  At  last  I  urged  my  horse 
forward  and  reached  Gentry's  with  the  guide.  "What 
have  you  got  to  eat  ?"  was  the  first  question,  "  Nothing, 
Madam."  "  But  here  you  have  six  men  hard  at  work  fin- 
ishing your  house,  and  you  9nust  find  them  in  food — give 
me  salt  pork."  "  We  can  give  you  a  cup  of  tea  and  a  soda 
cracker ;  that  is  all  they  have  till  the  pack-mules  come 
back."  Tea!  Oh,  how  I  had  always  despised  tea.  I  could 
not  drink  it.  "Have  you  nothing  else?"  "Some  whis- 
key. Madam,  and  a  soda  cracker."  "  Give  me  the  whis- 
key." The  French  cook  appeared  at  this  point  in  the  dia- 
logue, and  finding  that  I  was  on  speaking  terms  with  him, 
inquired  whether  I  would  have  a  "tody,"  which  seemed 
the  only  English  word  he  knew.  Of  course  I  answered, 
"  Oui,  et  bien  vite,"  and  in  five  minutes  cook  and  proprie- 
tor appeared — the  former  bearing  a  small  glass,  in  which 
was  two  teaspoonfuls  of  snow-water,  also  a  dilapidated 
sugar  bowl,  and  the  latter,  an  old  champagne  bottle,  in 
which  there  was  the  very  worst  fluid  I  ever  saw.  This  was 
a  "  tody  " — quarter  of  an  ounce  of  water,  and  liquor  to  suit 
yourself.  I  swallowed  less  whiskej'  than  water,  and  ate 
two  very  miserable  crackers,  and  then  went  out  to  make 
some  better  arrangements  for  a  liorse.     Absolutely  nothing 


206  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

could  be  done  about  a  saddle.  Poor  K.  rode  up  at  this 
point,  and  being  got  off  her  Bloomer,  fainted  sadly  away. 

Heigh  ho !  here  we  are  eight  terrible  miles  from  the 
Yosemite  Valley — starved  and  worn.  Truly  the  sights  of 
this  wonderful  region  ought  to  be  grand — to  x^ay. 

After  the  refreshment  which  Gentry's  unfinished  hotel 
afforded,  we  mounted  and  set  forward  on  our  pilgrimage. 
A  few  hundred  feet  from  the  "  Mountain  House  "  we  came 
to  a  great  table  rock,  smooth  and  polished  as  a  floor ;  indeed, 
our  horses'  feet  slipped  and  slid  about  upon  it  in  a  very 
unsteady  manner.  From  this  spot,  named  "  The  Stand- 
point of  Silence,"  we  looked  down  into  the  deep  canons 
that  severed  and  threaded  these  wonderful  Sierras,  and 
watched  the 

"  Shade  by  shade  and  light  by  light, 
Of  all  the  grand  progression,  naught  left  out. 
As  if  God  verily  made  you  for  yourselves. 
And  would  not  interrupt  your  life  with  ours." 

I  am  not  very  gregarious  in  my  taste  and  habits,  but  if 
ever  I  go  to  the  Yosemite  again,  I  would  prefer  to  take  my 
views  without  the  aid  of  spectators  ;  as  it  is,  these  guides 
hnrry  us  about  as  if  we  were  a  flock  of  sheep.  Now  we 
reverse  the  experience  of  the  indomitable  "Excelsior,"  and 
the  clarion  tongue  must  henceforth  shout — "Downward." 

My  change  of  horses  was  like  most  horse  trades,  a  losing 
operation;  for  the  stifle-jointed  "  Peter"  had  at  least  three 
sound  legs,  and  the  occasional  lapse  of  the  fonrth  did  give 
diversity  to  one's  experience  ;  but  the  miserable  little  red  rat 
with  white  freckles  that  took  his  place  was  what  the  Irish 
describe  as  being  "  beyant  the  beyants,"  and  was  likely  to 
ignominiously  try  my  temper  and  empty  stomach.  Poor 
starved  thing,  as  our  descent  began  the  creature  wept  and 
moaned  as  well  as  shook  with  terror ;  my  weight  (a  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds),  seemed  more  than  his  little  straws  of  legs 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  207 

could  carry.  The  downward  pitch  at  this  point  and  for  the 
next  three  miles  is  something  tremendous,  and  my  center  of 
gravity  was  always  out  of  line  ;  the  Bloomer  saddle  unset- 
tled me  at  every  step  ;  I  clutched  the  pommel,  I  set  myself 
back,  and  then  I  set  myself  forward — my  knees  manifested 
a  capacity  for  suffering  that  I  never  dreamed  those  joints 
enjoyed. 

All  this  time  my  left  foot  was  being  scraped  along  the 
wall  of  rock  that  rose  on  that  side  of  the  trail,  while  there 
seemed  but  four  inches  of  earth  on  the  right  between  Mrs. 
S.  and  total  physical  annihilation.  H,,  who  had  taken 
poor  K.'s  Bloomer  saddle,  tried  it  just  five  minutes,  and 
then  finding  it  unendurable,  used  her  own  feet  and  walked 
all  the  way  down  the  mountain  ;  how  she  did  it  I  can- 
not tell.  By  the  time  we  reached  a  certain  point  in  the 
descent,  I  had  my  hands  full ;  the  large  boulders  that  our 
horses  had  to  climb  over  became  more  and  more  puzzling, 
and  my  Liliputian  nag  found  greater  and  greater  difficulty 
in  getting  a  place  for  his  tiny  hoofs.  At  last,  just  as  we 
were  crawling  along  the  edge  of  a  precipice  fifteen  hundred 
feet  deep,  the  little  creature  caught  one  hind  leg  in  a  cleft 
of  the  rock,  and  as  the  two  were  at  least  four  feet  higher  up 
the  country  than  his  fore  feet,  things  began  to  look  compli- 
cated. The  poor  beast  wept  aloud  and  wailed  like  a  month- 
old  baby,  then  it  swayed  backwards  and  forwards  and  shiv- 
ered with  mortal  terror.  I  nmst  either  plunge  over  with 
the  horse  when  it  plunged,  or  make  a  fool  of  myself,  and  as 
pride  always  was  stronger  with  me  than  love  of  life,  I  con- 
cluded that  the  proper  thing  was  to  sit  still.  But  oh, 
such  an  attitude  as  I  was  in  ;  my  right  foot  shot  into  space, 
and  my  left  knee  rasped  against  the  wall  of  rock ;  the 
pony's  hind  legs  high  up  in  the  air,  and  I  at  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees  with  everything.     Mr.  Jay  H.  saw  my 


208  MRS.    MORSE  STEWART. 

peril,  and  shouted :  "  Guide,  Mrs.  S.  must  be  got  off  this 
horse,  or  lie  will  be  over — he  is  not  safe."  But  the  guide 
was  in  the  rear,  and  he  did  not  know  the  difference  between 
Mrs.  S.  and  Mrs.  T.,  or  U.,  or  V.,  or  W.,  but  Mr.  H.'s 
alarm  brought  me  to  the  exercise  of  my  wits.  The  party 
had  all  halted,  I,  by  the  accident  to  my  liorse,  having  com- 
pletely blocked  the  way.  In  my  girlhood  I  had  often  used 
the  whip  upon  my  bay  mare,  "Brisk,"  with  marked  success, 
and  in  my  young  motherhood  I  had  applied  the  same  slen- 
der weaj)on,  and  found  it  a  great  incentive  to  obedience 
where  boys  were  concerned.  Why  should  I  hesitate  ?  A 
good  sharp  cut  or  two  might  stimulate  my  pony  to  exertion. 
Down  came  the  blows  —  three  stinging  welts  —  and  the 
freckled-faced  beast  ceased  to  lament,  and  got  its  hind  legs 
out  of  the  cleft,  or  off  of  the  mantel-piece,  as  it  seemed. 
After  this  it  was  like  the  old  woman's  pig  going  through 
the  stile,  for  when  the  stick  began  to  beat  the  dog,  and  the 
dog  began  to  bite  the  pig,  that  dance  of  the  nursery  rhyme 
bade  fair  to  get  home  before  night. 

The  stones  of  the  mountain  side  radiated  heat,  my  extra 
wraps  for  the  eight  feet  of  snow  on  Tamarack  Flat  oppressed 
and  suffocated  me  ;  the  two  teaspoonfuls  of  whisky  seemed 
to  have  set  my  blood  on  fire,  and  the  reaction  (because 
terror  always  comes  afterwards  with  me)  caused  my  head 
to  reel  and  my  senses  to  swim.  At  last  we  reached  a  little 
spot  six  feet  broad,  where  I  could  allow  the  rest  of  the 
party  to  file  past  me,  and  I  fell  to  the  rear  and  joined  H. 
and  the  guide.  I  tried  to  walk,  as  H.  was  doing,  but  my 
knees  gave  out  completely — oh,  how  they  did  ache  !  The 
memory  of  the  late  Mrs.  Emma  Willard's  glowing  tribute 
to  a  former  Governor  of  ISTew  York,  came  flashing  through 
my  mind,  beginning  as  it  did  : 

"  DeWitt  Clinton,  that  great  man. 
Fell  down  and  broke  his  knee  pan." 


TRIP   TO    CALIFORNIA.  209 

On  the  whole,  it  seemed  as  if  any  sort  of  a  crack  to  mine 
miglit  let  out  the  bottled-up  agony  of  the  joint.  At  last  I 
mounted  again  and  went  forward  half  a  mile  ;  racked 
to  _ death  with  the  pain  in  my  knees,  I  could  bear  it  no 
longer.  I  rested,  I  struggled  with  myself,  I  gasped  and 
groaned,  then  I  walked,  but  I  was  too  faint  and  aching  to 
make  much  headway.  The  guide  warned  us  that  it  was 
half-past  five — "  we  itnust  cross  the  river  before  night ;  there 
was  a  Piute  camp  about  a  mile  farther  on ;  they  owned  a 
kettle,  and  might  be  able  to  give  us  some  boiled  bear  or 
snails."  Faugh!  The  seething  internal  commotion  warned 
me  that  Piutes  and  snails  would  never  go  down.  I  put  ray 
feet  into  those  terrible  stirrups  and  vowed  I  would  die 
before  dismounting  again.  On  and  on,  and  on  we  went — 
the  torture  of  the  rack,  the  boot,  the  thumb-screws,  beset 
me  on  every  side.  At  last  I  had  gotten  far  ahead  of  H.  and 
the  guide,  and  was  in  sight  of  the  rushing,  roaring  river. 
Straining  my  nerve,  I  urged  my  steed  to  the  water's  edge, 
and  flung  myself  out  of  that  infamous,  pestiferous  abomina- 
tion of  a  saddle.  Pillowing  m}'  head  on  the  roots  of  a 
manzineta  tree,  I  lay  watching  the  glorious  water.  Oh,  the 
comfort  I  have  always  taken  in  water,  from  our  dear  old 
river  banks,  or  by  the  still  lakeside — ^yes,  and  "  On  old  Long 
Island's  sea-girt  shore,"  listening  to  the  booming  of  the  sea- 
breakers.  But  this  was  another  and  different  affair — a  stream 
about  the  width  of  the  "  Rouge,"  perhaps  four  or  five  hun- 
dred feet  broad,  the  waters  coming  down  with  a  rush  and  a 
tumult,  a  hurry  and  sweep — as  if  they  were  a  troop  of  white 
horses  with  manes  and  tails  flying,  eyes  flashing,  nostrils 
flaring — ever  onward  they  streamed. 

The  rapids  of  Niagara  give  one  some  idea  of  this  wild, 
swift,  arrowy  current,  broken  into  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  hills  of  foam,  churned  white  bv  the  rocks  in  the  river 


210  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

bed— oh,  such  a  sight.  When  H.  came  up  and  saw  me  lying 
still  and  at  rest  by  the  water's  edge,  she  exclaimed,  "  Oh, 
auntie,  are  you  dead  ?"  and  I  answered  her,  "  Yes,  child,  I 
did  mean  to  die,  as  soon  as  I  got  out  of  that  saddle,  but  I 
forgot  all  about  it."  And  so  we  sat  down  together,  and 
bathed  our  heated  brows,  and  studied  the  sunlight  on  the 
foam  caps,  and  drank  ever  deeper  and  deeper  draughts  of 
beauty. 

Alas,  there  is  no  rest.     Joe  Ridgeway  urged  us  to  get  on, 
or  we  "could  not  cross  the  river  before  dark."     But  here 
the  trail  was  on  far  more  level  ground  ;  and  using  the  pom- 
mel as  the  horn  of  a  genuine  lady's  saddle,  I  went  forward 
once  more.     The  shadow  of  the  nightfall  came  down  even 
upon  the  flashing  river,  and  my  poor  little  pony  hastened 
his  steps,  stimulated  by  the  hope  of  ten  pounds  of  barley. 
My  eyes  were  on  the  stream,  for  "  the  Valley''^  seemed  yet 
a  mile  or  so  away,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Merced   River, 
when  suddenly,  attracted  by  a  deeper  shadow  upon  the 
fresh  green  grass,  I  looked  towards  the  left  and  saw  what  I 
can  never  forget.     Towering  in   one  stupendous  mass  of 
rock,  of  smoothly,  squarely  cut  granite,  was  a  fortress  such 
as  the  Lord  only  could  build ;  and  on  the  other  side  of  the 
narrow,  rocky  river,  and  opposite  this  wonderful  bastion, 
were  three  towers  fit  only  to  surmount  His  temple.     My 
face  dropped  into  my    hands,   and    prayers  too  deep  for 
utterance  came  in  broken  snatches  from  my  lips,  "  thank 
God,"  "  thank  God,"  "  thank  God,"  and  then  a  passion  of 
tears  that  shook  every  fibre  of  my  heart.     Oh,  the  power  and 
the  glory,  the  majesty  and  magnificence  of  those  grand  fair- 
faced  rocks,  how  royally  they  stood  there  and  said  of  their 
Maker,  "  Thy  righteousness  is  like  the  great  mountains^  thy 
judgments  are  a  great  deep.     O  Lord,  thou  preservest  man 
and  beast ;  how  excellent  is  thy  loving-kindness.     O  God, 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA  211 

therefore  the  children  of  men  put  their  trust  under  tlie 
sliadow  of  thy  wings ;"  and  in  the  natural  spontaneous 
response  of  mind  and  memory,  my  spirit  made  answer : 

"  Neither  is  there  any  rock  like  our  God."  How  long  I 
sat  waiting  in  the  shadow  of  the  falling  night,  in  the 
shadow  of  these  "  mountains  of  the  Lord's  house,"  I  cannot 
tell.  It  will  be  forever  a  sacred  season  ;  as  the  burning 
bush  to  the  leader  of  the  hosts  of  Israel,  so  was  the  shadow 
of  this  great  rock  to  my  soul's  life. 

Only  too  soon,  Joe  Ridgeway  and  II.  came  up,  and  the 
former  told  us  that  this  rock  was  called  El  Capitan,  3,300 
feet  high,  and  those  on  the  opposite  side  were  the  Cathe- 
dral Towers,  2,660  feet  above  us. 

After  this  wonderful  sight  and  riding  in  this  shadow,  I 
seemed  to  lose  all  sense  of  responsibility  or  trouble  or 
anxiety  about  "  Mrs.  S."  Her  knee-pans  were  nothing 
to  me ;  if  they  ached,  I  knew  nothing  of  it,  I  forgot  the 
saddle  and  the  freckled  rat  that  carried  it  and  me  ;  I  foi'got 
that  twelve  hours  without  food  ;  huno-er  and  thirst  had 
passed  away.  I  forgot  the  shades  of  night  and  the  river 
swollen  so  high  that  the  bridge  was  far  from  safe ;  I  forgot 
the  poor  Piutes  who  loomed  up  around  their  camp-fire,  as 
we  passed  it ;  I  forgot  Black's  Hotel ;  I  wished  for  nothing 
more,  absolutely  nothing,  except  (there  is  always  an  excep- 
tion) I  would  have  liked  a  dry  pocket  handkerchief. 
When  we  rode  over  the  bridge,  which  no  longer  bridged 
the  river,  and  took  a  little  boat  to  be  rowed  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  further,  and  then  rode  my  small  pony  through  a 
swampy  swail,  of  some  hundreds  of  feet,  it  was  all  a  pro- 
ceeding that  did  not  even  arouse  my  interest.  Half  a  dozen 
guides  had  waited  anxiously  to  get  us  across  the  Merced, 
and  now  I  remember  they  were  wild  with  bad  whiskey, 
but  at  the  time  I  did  not  observe  it.     It  was  black  night  by 


212  MRS.   MOESE   STEWART. 

this  time,  but  notliing  made  anj  difference.  Even  when  we 
rode  up  and  dismounted  upon  the  piazza  of  the  hotel,  and 
were  welcomed  bv  Mrs.  W.  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McM.,  of 
Detroit,  it  did  not  surprise  me.  Mr.  D.  came  up  and  said, 
''Are  you  entirely  used  up  ?"  and  I  answered  him,  "  Used 
up  ?  No,  why  should  I  be  used  up  ?  I  have  got  over  being 
tired."  But  a  half  hour  after,  at  a  most  excellent  supper, 
my  forgotten  appetite  returned.  Before  taking  myself 
to  rest  that  night,  I  paced  the  piazza  and  studied  by  the 
light  of  a  most  glorious  moon,  the  fall  and  the  flash  of  the 
Yosemite  Falls ;  they  were  all  I  could  see  of  "  the  Valley  ;" 
and  their  roar,  which  "  left  a  sense  of  thunder,"  lulled  me 
at  last  into  such  a  sleep  as  only  a  tired  traveler  can  enjoy. 

Tuesday  Morning,  May  28,  1872. — Wakened  very  early 
and  lay  quietly  resting  and  straightening  my  ideas,  realiz- 
ing that  I  was  in  "  the  valley,"  and  feeling  withal,  as  one 
often  does  when  she  reaches  the  goal  of  her  ambition,  very 
solitary.  Suddenly  I  heard  a  tremendous  crash,  the  house 
shook,  the  bed  rocked,  and  for  an  instant  it  seemed  as  if 
there  had  been  "a  crush  of  worlds."  But  nothing  fol- 
lowed ;  perhaps  my  next  door  neighbor  snored  more  softly, 
and  some  girls  on  the  other  side  nestled  and  rustled  and 
murmured  in  their  beds,  and  dropped  away  again  into  that 
soft  morning  slumber  that  is  such  a  comfort.  These  paper 
partitions  may  shut  out  the  sights,  but  not  the  sounds  of 
one's  vicinity.  No  one  seemed  further  disturbed,  and  I 
still  cogitated  as  to  what  had  produced  these  extraordinary 
sensations. 

At  breakfast  I  made  inquiry,  and  every  one  smiled 
broadly  and  suggested  "  dreams,"  and  "  nightmares,"  and 
"reminiscences  of  the  day  that  was  past."  Mr.  D.  made 
no  bones  of  calling  it  a  sensational  way  of  regarding  the 
sounds  of  the  valley ;    but  when  I  knoio  a  thing,  I  know  it, 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  213 

and  there  lias  been  no  exaggeration  of  the  circumstances; 
it  might  always  remain  a  mystery,  but  it  did  happen.  Oh, 
how  stiff  and  sore  and  tired  we  all  were  when  gathered  at 
breakfast  ;  content  afterwards  to  sit  on  the  piazza  and  watch 
the  Yosemite  Falls,  and  the  enterprising  parties  departing 
for  the  day's  sight-seeing! 

About  eleven  a.  m.  one  or  two  gentlemen  who  had  heard 
it  stepped  in  and  inquired  into  the  sound  and  shake  that  had 
astonished  me  at  daybreak.  There  were  three  or  four  prob- 
able solutions  :  First,  it  may  have  been  a  blast,  there  being 
no  less  than  four  parties  out  making  new  trails  ;  second,  a 
boulder  might  have  been  washed  over  the  falls  in  front  of 
us ;  third,  a  mass  of  rock  from  some  of  the  walls  of  the 
Valley  had  possibly  given  away,  and  the  fall  of  it  produced 
the  noise  and  shock;  and  fourth,  an  earthquake — "they 
were  always  around." 

On  the  whole  I  was  reminded  of  the  college  boy's  song : 

"  Some  said  it  was  a  barn,  and  others  said  nay, 
It's  only  a  meeting-house  "with  the  steeple  blown  away." 

Lunch  over,  the  guides  brought  the  horses,  and  we  set 
out  for  Bridal  Veil  Fall.  After  the  25th  of  May  the 
streams  of  the  valley  are  said  to  subside,  but  they  were 
higher  than  ever  to-day,  and  everything  was  afloat,  water 
pouring  over  the  rocks  in  floods  that  threatened  to  sweep 
away  the  very  loose  foundations  upon  which  we  stood  ;  and 
to  get  to  the  Bridal  Fall  involved  a  mile  or  two  of  trailing 
through  swamps  and  streams  up  to  your  liorse's  girths. 
They,  poor  creatures,  stumbled  along  over  slippery  stones, 
or  through  quaggy  ground,  with  a  patient  perseverance  that 
proved  contagious.  Sometimes  our  feet  were  in  the  water, 
at  others  tucked  upon  the  horse's  back,  yet  it  was  all  pleas- 
ant and  profitable,  and  decidedly  new. 

More  than  twenty  years  agonc,  I  had  forded  streams  and 


214  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

sounded  swamps — bad  wandered  on  horseback  tbrongb  tbe 

virgin  forests  of  Michigan — and  here  this  day,  spite  of  the 

two  young  men  and  one  young  woman  at  home  who  called 

me  mother  (together  with  a  baby  or  two  besides),  I  drank 

once  more  of  the  fountain  of  youth.     Sixteen — just  sixteen 

years  of  age !     The  weary  months  and  years  of  sickness  and 

sorrow,  pain  and  death,  that  had  filled  to  overflowing  two 

decades  of  my  life,  faded  out  of  sight  and  memory,  and  the 

sweet,  fresh,  dewy  dreams  of  my  girlhood  seemed  to  come 

true ;  the  world  was  fair  and  beautiful,  and  I  was  glad  to 

live  and  breathe  and  have  my  being ;  and  thought, 

"  As  I  had  not  been  thinking  of  aught  for  years, 
Till  over  my  eyes  there  began  to  move 
Something  that  felt  like  tears  "  — 

Tears  that  seemed  to  wash  away  the  cruel  experiences  of 
life  and  time — tears  that  left  a  dewy  mist  upon  some  barren 
and  arid  days — a  soft,  sweet  atmosphere  of  peace  and  recon- 
ciliation, the  mellow  haze  that  softened  all  the  past  and 
made  trulj'^  perfect  the  present ;  the  future  at  that  moment 
seemed  nothing  to  me.  The  scenery  that  surrounded  me 
was  of  its  own  kind  so  entirely,  that  I  seemed  to  have  been 
lifted  out  of  the  every-day  world  in  which  I  had  always 
lived,  and  set  into  a  perfected  existence,  where  the  wildest 
imaginings  of  a  girl's  young,  fresh  heart  were  realized. 

Only  too  soon  the  party  called  a  halt,  and  we  dismounted 
that  we  might  draw  nearer  the  falls.  I  had  seen  ISTiagara, 
and  Minnehaha,  and  St.  Anthony's,  \vith  many  of  the  lesser 
lights  in  the  way  of  waterfalls,  but  never  such  a  one  as  this. 
Framed  in  on  all  sides  by  brown  and  rugged  walls  of  rock, 
whose  base  was  green  with  a  greenness  too  radiant  to  be 
described,  and  above  all,  an  arch  of  sky  whose  blue  was  a 
blue  celestial — such  brown,  such  green,  such  blue  as  only 
artists  see  in  their  night-visions — while  falling  in  a  soft 
spray  of  fleece  and  foam,  floating  out  in  cloudlets  of  mist 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  215 

and  vapor  here  and  there,  was  a  great  white  swaying  curtain 
of  infinitesimal  water-drops  from  the  mountain  tops.  In 
the  Apocalypse,  John  the  Divine,  whose  tranced  eyes  saw 
the  heaven  of  hea*vens  opened,  and  the  glory  of  our  God, 
tells  us  of  the  white  robes  of  the  redeemed  ;  this  mist,  and 
spray,  and  radiance,  might  clothe  the  angelic  host  in  seem- 
ing garments. 

I  do  not  think  it  crossed  my  mind  that  in  this  glorious 
mist  I  was  growing  very  wet,  and  my  "  death  of  cold  "  was 
beyond  my  ken.  In  fact  it  did  not  make  any  matter.  That 
great  tall  Mrs.  S.,  with  her  flesh,  and  her  blood,  and  her 
bones,  and  her  aches,  was  a  woman  I  had  parted  company 
with  to  my  profit ;  at  last  I  had  got  rid  of  her,  and  was  free 
from  my  hideous  double — free  to  stand  (as  I  hope  to  stand 
if  ever  I  reach  heaven)  in  my  soul. 

There  was  a  great  rock  on  one  side,  and  up  to  its  top  had 
clambered  our  California  Mr.  H.  I  had  climbed  to  where 
my  eyes  were  just  above  the  wall,  and  could  catch  an  occa- 
sional glimpse  of  the  scene.  Stretching  my  arms  up  to  that 
cleverest  of  gentlemen,  he  seized  my  finger-tips,  and  I, 
executing  a  spring  worthy  of  a  reckless  coryiyhee  in  a 
ballet,  stood  by  his  side — stood  in  the  glories  of  the  rain- 
bows ;  hundreds  and  thousands  of  prisms  glistened  and 
gleamed,  and  settled  or  danced  on  the  moss-covered  rock. 
God's  bow,  which  aforetime  lie  had  set  in  the  clouds, 
was  beneath  me  now — was  on  the  very  earth,  and  flashed 
in  all  its  pristine  promise  at  my  feet.  This  was  the  climax, 
and  an  hour  afterwards  tiie  drenched  and  dripping  woman 
whose  draggled  hat,  and  clinging,  soaking  dress  and  boots 
made  her  the  veriest  Meg  Merrilies  in  appearance  and  cos- 
tume, carried  home  with  her  a  heart  so  all  aglow  with  beau- 
tiful pictures,  that  it  seems  to-day  as  if  it  would  never  grow 
old  and  dry  and  hard. 


216  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART, 

Truly  I  shall  not  forget  Mr.  H.  That  man  had  a  sense 
of  justice  about  him  for  which  he  should  be  canonized  ;  he 
did  not  muddle  his  brain  with  "  the  woman  question,"  but 
secured  for  me  my  equal  rights  to  the  glories  of  God  in 
nature. 

Wednesday,  May  29. — To-day  I  was  up  betimes,  and  ready 
for  a  fresh  start.  Such  a  cloudless  sky  and  such  a  clear 
atmosphere  is  of  this  land  only.  On  our  way  we  passed 
Hutching's  Hotel,  and  met  the  Hubbells  once  more,  who 
joined  us  for  the  day. 

At  this  point  the  Yalley  narrows  down  to  less  than  a  mile 
in  width,  and  then  branches  off  into  two  pockets  of  land 
and  water,  one  leading  over  some  flat  ground  to  Mirror 
Lake,  the  other  upward  to  the  Yernal  and  Nevada  Falls. 
Here,  too,  the  Merced  Eiver  forks;  the  lesser  stream  is 
called  the  Tenaya,  or  North  Fork— the  other  the  South 
Fork,  or  Illilouette.  At  the  angle  where  the  Yosemite 
branches,  there  is  a  round  column-like  mass  of  rock  called 
Washington  Column,  and  beyond  this  another  which  termi- 
nates in  a  huge  dome — Tocoya,  or  North  Dome.  On  the 
face  of  this  appears  what  are  called  the  Royal  Arches, 
formed  by  the  breaking  loose  of  huge  masses  of  rock ;  the 
debris  lies  beneath  us  or  at  the  foot.  By  actual  measure 
this  North  Dome,  which  is  a  huge  rounded  mass  of  granite, 
stands  3,568  perpendicular  feet  above  us,  while  on  the  other 
side  the  Glacier  Rocks  and  Point  and  Sentinel  Domes  rise 
yet  higher.  To  go  into  the  geography  or  geology  of  this 
marvel  of  nature  would  not  be  possible  for  me,  though  it 
does  certainly  look  to  the  eye  of  common  sense  as  if  the 
bottom'  of  this  portion  of  the  universe  had  dropped  sud- 
denly down  in  some  unexpected  manner  several  thousand 
feet. 

Our  trail  here  was  very  rough.    The  debris  of  this  tremen- 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  217 

dons  wall  is  comparatively  trifling  when  one  considers  how 
the  water  and  the  ice  split  off  here  a  bit  and  there  a  bit,  but 
it  makes  it  slow  and  patient  work  getting  over  or  around 
the  boulders  and  fragments. 

Shut  in  and  overshadowed  as  we  were  by  the  imposing 
grandeur  of  these  great  rocks,  one's  realization  of  the  great- 
ness of  God  and  the  littleness  of  man  takes  entire  possession 
of  a  Christian  heart.  This  is  indeed  a  very  "Valley  of 
Humiliation,"  and  perpetually  one  cries  out,  "What  is  man, 
O,  Lord,  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ? "  Facing  these 
raassiv^e  walls,  we  were  the  merest  pigmies — so  powerless, 
so  helpless.  In  my  utter  littleness  I  went  seeking  back  to 
the  days  when  a  dear  old  wrinkled  hand  clasped  mine,  and 
remembered  the  dear  old  warning  voice  that  was  ever  such 
a  sheet-anchor  to  my  restless  spirit  —  "  Learn  to  say  intelli- 
gently, my  daughter,  '  I  linow  in  whom  I  have  believed, 
and  though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him.'  "  Then 
every  quivering  pulse  grew  calm  and  still,  and  unseen  com- 
pany went  with  me  on  my  way.  I  was  side  by  side  with 
the  spirit  of  a  just  man  made  perfect.  All  the  beautiful 
nature  of  that  wonderful  day  was  to  me  but  God.  I  saw 
Him  in  the  shining  water  that  sped  onward  in  its  course,  in 
the  green  and  tangled  thicket  through  which  we  sought  our 
path,  and  heard  Him  in  the  "still  small  voice"  that  whis- 
pered from  every  leaf  on  the  hillside. 

Altliough  our  trail  was  both  narrow  and  steep,  it  looked 
upward  on  the  one  hand  to  a  more  steeply  sloping  niountain 
side,  covered  with  pine,  manzineta,  and  what  in  California 
is  called,  poison  oak  trees;  while  on  the  other  there  was  a 
downward  pitcli,  green  and  glorious  with  turf  and  tree 
and  shrub,  that  plunged,  as  it  were,  into  the  madly-rush- 
ing stream  of  South  Fork,  which  to-day  was  green — a 
keen  and  chill,  but  brilliant  tone  of  color — flecked  with 

20 


218  MKS.    MORSE    STEWAKT. 

white,  on  ward- whirling  masses  of  foam  and  turbulent  water. 
To  see  these  mountain  streams  that  are  a  miniature  repro- 
duction of  the  rapids  of  Niagara — to  feel  that  if  you  once 
plunged  into  them  they  would  grasp  you  with  the  fingers 
of  a  vise  and  sweep  and  hurl  you  to  destruction — inspires 
one  with  a  morbid  desire  "  to  give  them  a  chance ; "  indeed, 
one  grows  so  in  sympathy  with  their  dash  and  whirl  that 
the  idea  of  deputing  to  such  energetic  agents  all  one's  voli- 
tion is  a  sore  temptation. 

However,  the  patient  feet  of  the  Piute  pony  which  bear 
me  upward  and  onward,  and  do  the  drudgery  of  the  jour- 
ne3%  take  no  notice  of  impulse,  but  plod,  plod,  plod,  hour 
after  hour,  till  at  length  we  reach  a  halting  spot  where  fore 
and  hind  legs  can  stand  upon  level  ground,  and  not  at  an 
angle  of  forty -five  degrees.  Here  we  dismount,  and  follow- 
ing a  little  foot  trail,  soon  find  ourselves  upon  a  broad,  flat 
bit  of  table  land  called  Lady  Franklin's  Rest,  and  face  to 
face  with  a  cataract  whose  roar  has  echoed  in  your  brain  for 
long.  What  is  the  use  of  saying  six  hundred  feet  high  ? — 
dimensions  do  not  give  ideas — and  who  can  describe  Vernal 
Falls?  The  Bridal  Veil  is  one  thing,  the  Vernal  something 
quite  different,  and  the  I^evada  Fall,  which  is  yet  to  come, 
we  are  told  is  as  entirely  distinct  from  eitlier  as  it  is  possible 
to  imagine. 

As  usual  I  was  completely  fascinated  ;  down  I  sat  on 
the  damp,  mossy  turf  of  Lady  Franklin's  Rest,  and  looked, 
and  watched  and  thought,  until  at  last  the  history  of 
the  poor  restless  English  woman  for  whom  it  was  named 
came  flashing  through  m)^  mind.  I  remembered  a  dinner 
party  years  and  years  ago,  "  before  I  was  married "  — 
remembered  how  Lady  Franklin's  passionate  anxiety  for  her 
husband's  safety  was  there  met  by  the  distinguished  people, 
wlio  Intel Hgently  discussed  her  case  with  the  sarcastic  fact 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  219 

tliat  "slie  had  beeu  separated  from  liiin  for  ten  years;" 
and  then  came  all  the  sad  quest — all  the  weary,  disappoint- 
ing search — till  at  last  she  felt  it  something  gained  to 
find  the  hidden  "cache"  that  proved  he  must  be  dead. 
After  that  how  restlessly  the  poor  woman  wandered, 
wandered,  wandered,  till  she  was  old,  and  tired,  and  gray. 
I  remembered  her  coming  through  Detroit  some  ten  years 
after,  and  how  differently  then  I  had  learned  to  view  her 
separation  from  her  husband.  Whatever  proud  and  stub- 
born impulse  had  overtaken  her  in  her  youth,  remorse  and 
repentance  had  come  in  later  j^ears.  If  her  husband  had 
wronged  her,  she  forgave  him  grandly,  and  expiated  her 
proud  sin  by  her  ceaseless  search ;  and  now,  after  all  her 
turbulent,  passionate,  sad  life,  she  had  sat  where  I  was 
sitting,  and  found  her  rest.  Facing  the  mighty  energies  of 
Nature,  facing  the  power  and  presence  of  God,  there  is 
rest  that  is  worth  braving  seas  and  trailing  over  mountains 
to  find.  I  should  have  been  content  to  sit  quietly  where  I 
was  all  day,  and  all  night,  too,  but  alas !  I  was  a  traveler ! 
and  the  warning  voice  of  Mr.  D.,  saying,  "Well,  Mrs.  S., 
do  you  think  you  are  damp  enough  to  go  on  ? "  recalled  me 
to  the  fact  that  we  must  get  forward.  No  one  will  ever 
convince  me  that  Brother  D.  did  not  enjoy  the  day  as  much 
as  I  did,  but  it  was  a  great  safety-valve  to  him  to  make  fun 
of  ony  enthusiasm. 

Again  we  mounted  our  ponies,  and  again  we  scaled  our 
mountain,  Joe  Ridgeway  wandering  before  us,  as  if  all  his 
surroundings  were  monotonous  in  the  extreme,  whatever 
ours  might  be.  In  an  hour  we  reached  the  top  of  Vernal 
Falls,  and  walking  out  upon  a  huge  rock  that  had  tlie  most 
marvelous  natural  parapet,  stood  leaning  and  looking  down 
upon  this  volume  of  water  that  plunged  past  and  shot 
over  the  rock  within  a  foot  of  us.     What  a  weary  time  the 


220  MRS.    MORSE  STEWART. 

Wandering  Jew  must  have  had  through  all  the  centuries  of 
his  career !  Just  when  he  fain  would  have  stopped,  came 
the  imperious  curse  of  his  life,  "March,  march!"  Are 
not  we  Americans  more  or  less  Wandering  Jews  ?  Is  there 
not  a  driving  impulse  in  our  blood  that  keeps  us  perpetually 
on  the  move?  Ten  minutes  sufficed  to  see  a  sight  that 
should  rightly  have  taken  ten  hours,  and  then  up  we  went, 
up  the  zig-zagging  trail,  until  we  came  in  sight  of  a  small 
house,  perched  upon  a  little  flat  of  the  mountain.  Here 
we  found  a  comfortable  meal,  and  after  that  a  lovely  view 
of  the  surrounding  Sierras.  Here,  too,  if  we  had  so 
arranged  it,  we  could  have  remained  all  night ;  in  that 
case  I  should  have  climbed  to  the  topmost  feather  in  "  the 
cap  of  Liberty,"  the  name  for  the  summit  of  a  dome  that  is 
very  wonderful;  but  no,  our  days  were  "appointed,"  and 
we  therefore  went  up  to  the  foot  of  the  Nevada  Falls,  and 
clambering  out  upon  the  huge  limestone  squares  of  rock,  I 
perched  myself,  and  concluded  to  rebel — to  assert  myself — 
to  say  I  would  not  stir  i  the  moon  was  to  be  up  at  mid- 
night, and  I  would  not  be  torn  ruthlessly  from  everything 
that  was  inspiring.  If  I  had  been  a  man,  I  probably  would 
not  have  enjoyed  all  this,  as  I  had  done  ;  but  if  I  had  been 
a  man,  I  would  have  done  as  I  pleased,  and  sat  all  by 
myself  hours  and  hours  before,  almost  beneath,  this  nine 
hundred  feet  of  falling  water.  As  it  was,  I  did  sit  there 
till  the  party  was  ready  to  return,  then,  I  behaved  "  like 
a  sensible  woman  "  and  returned  also  ;  but  it  was  not  from 
any  innate  goodness  or  submission  in  the  heart,  but  because 
for  forty  years  I  had  sacrificed  my  will  and  wish  to  some 
one  in  authority — to  some  one  who  decided  what  I  ought 
to  do,  and  what  I  ought  to  leave  undone.  I  am  an  obedi- 
ent woman  —  habit  makes  me  such.  Submission  was 
ground  into  my  nature  with  the   ten  commandments,  but 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  221 

there  are  times  when  it  would  not  be  very  safe  for  me  to 
be  provided  with  woman's  rights.  I  tliink  the  sex  are  a 
little  too  heady  to  be  trusted  with  unlimited  independences. 
If  they  had  left  me  at  the  foot  of  Nevada  Falls,  Mr.  D. 
might,  and  in  all  probability  would,  have  found  but  a  deci- 
mal fraction  of  me  to  carry  back  to  my  mourning  friends. 
The  visitor's  book  at  this  odd  little  mountain  house  was 
very  curious,  and  everybody  looked  into  it  with  interest. 
One  gentleman  (not  of  our  party),  observing  the  name  of 

Mr.  A.  C.  McG ,  of"  Detroit,  on  two  days,  remarked, 

"  Well,  that  man  is  the  biggest  fool  that  ever  came  to  this 

forsaken  place;  he's  heen  here  twice.''''     If  Mr.   McG 

ever  comes  to  the  Tosemite  Valley  again,  I  will  ask  him  to 
take  me.     He  is  a  sight-seer  after  my  own  heart. 

The  day  before  we  were  there,  some  old  gentleman — I 
thought  him  old  because  his  hand  had  trembled  in  the 
writing — had  added  after  his  own  name  the  words  of  the 
prophet  Joel :  "  Tell  ye  your  children  of  it,  and  let  your 
children  tell  their  children  and  their  children  another  ffen- 
eration."  In  his  family  the  tradition  of  this  wonderful 
valley  will  go  down  like  a  heritage. 

On  our  way  back  we  were  to  stop  at  the  top  of  the  Ver- 
nal Falls,  descend  the  ladders,  and  then  walk  by  rather  a 
circuitous  track  back  to  the  Rest,  We  carried  out  this  pro- 
gramme to  the  letter,  Mr.  W.,  Will  and   myself,  of   our 

party,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jay  II ,  of  the  Hubbell  party. 

On  our  way  down  the  ladders  we  saw  "an  enchanted 
grotto,"  draped  with  fairy  ferns,  sweeping  in  delicate  sprays 
and  tufts  from  every  little  crack  and  crevice  or  shelf  and 
chip  of  the  rock.  The  shade  and  the  moisture  had  the 
effect  of  producing  such  bracken  (as  the  Scotch  call  it)  as 
would  have  outshone  the  waterfalls  with  some  enthusiastic 


222  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

people ;    tliey  were  so  beautiful  that   I    dared  not   gather 
them — it  was  too  like  sacrilege. 

Before  we  left  this  spot  we  tucked  up  our  skirts,  and, 
donning  waterproof  coats,  set  out  on  what  was  really  a  very 
perilous  and  rushing  walk.     A  little  ledge  of  earth,  just 
wide  enough  to  set  your  feet  in,  runs  like  a  thread  along 
the  mountain  side,   the  spray  of  the  river  and  falls  keeps 
the  ground  soft  and  boggy  ;    you   plunge  into  pockets  of 
water  where  other  travelers  have  gone  before  and  left  a  sat- 
urated foot-print ;  tlie  soft  soil  slips  away,  and  you  make 
another  spring  for  a  more  solid  resting  place,  hoping  each 
foothold   may    prove    more  enduring   than   the   last,   ever 
glancing  back  upon  the  Vernal  Falls  that  pour  both  water 
and  spray  behind  you.     It  is  a  hard  and  very  unsatisfactory 
pilgrimage,  and  in  no  wise  prolitable.     However,  it  is  done 
now;  "the  light  of  experience  shines  ever  upon  the  past" 
— and  not  the  future.     The  next  tourist  will  learn  for  him 
or   herself,   as   other   people    have    done.      I  was   utterly 
exhausted  when   I   reached  terra  firma,  and  but  for  Mr. 
Hubbell's  watchful  eye  might  have  suffered.     When  Mr. 
D.   and   K.    came    up,    we    had    quite    recuperated,    and, 
dropping  our  dry  skirts  over  our  wet  feet,  made  no  sign  or 
show   of  disappointment.      After   this  our  way  was  ever 
downward,  and  at  six  o'clock  we  were  once  more  at  our 
little  hotel,  where  a  hot  foot  bath  and  fresh  clothes  soon 
made  us  forget  the  only  trying  part  of  the  day. 

Thursday,  May  30. — This  morning  about  nine  we  set 
forth  to  explore  the  new  trail,  just  now  being  blasted,  to 
Glacier  Pointe.  We  found  it  a  bare,  bald,  bleak,  zig-zag, 
steep  ascent  of  three  miles,  at  which  point  we  came  upon  a 
minutely  small  tent,  on  one  side  of  which  was  painted  "  Lodg- 
ings" and  on  the  other  "Refreshments."  On  the  jut  of  a 
rock  we  opened  our  lunch  boxes  and  partook  with  an  appe- 


\ 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  223 

tite  born  of  the  mountain  air,  of  a  lunch  that  would  scarcely 
be  called  tempting  at  home.  After  taking  many  bird's-eye 
views  of  the  Valley,  we  set  ourselves  to  studying  a  very 
extraordinary  stone  called  Agassiz'  Pillar,  which  was  as 
much  like  an  exclamation  point  (!)  as  anything  I  can  think 
of,  except  that  the  round  ball  upon  which  it  rested  was 
very  much  smaller  than  the  column  itself.  This  stood  out 
on  a  cliff  facing  the  sky,  and  threatened  the  valley  in  a 
most  singular  manner.  ISTo  earthquake  shock  had  shaken 
its  center  of  gravity  as  yet,  but  it  looked  menacing  for 
the  future.  Then  we  mounted  our  untethered  steeds,  and 
proceeded  upwards.  To-day  we  had  a  new  guide  who 
knew  but  little,  and  who  did  not  bid  fair  ever  to  increase 
his  store  of  knowledge.  I  followed  close  upon  his  horse's 
heels,  until  suddenly  the  trail  which  had  been  growing 
worse  and  worse  now  ceased  entirely.  AYe  could  not  go 
forward,  nor  yet  turn  round  to  go  back,  and,  calling  to  K. 
to  dismount,  I  sprang  to  the  ground,  leaving  my  horse  to 
turn  himself  round  as  best  he  could.  Poor  beast,  he  stood 
a  very  smart  chance  of  somersaulting  his  way  back  to  the 
valley  without  me.  With  me,  we  both  would  have  exe- 
cuted much  ground  and  lofty  tumbling.  Just  here  the 
blasting  party,  among  whom  were  some  bright,  intelligent 
men,  came  down  from  somewhere  up  in  the  sky  to  meet 
us.  They  begged  us  to  walk  a  few  rods  further,  and  "get 
a  view  worth  having."  Nothing  loath,  K.  and  I  climbed 
on,  until  we  stood  upon  a  great  plateau  of  snow  and  ice, 
and  took  a  bird's  eye  view  of  a  valley  that  1  cannot  bear  to 
think  of  as  small ;  to  me  it  seemed  a  universe.  The  men 
were  delighted  to  welcome  us  as  the  first  ladies  who  had 
ever  reached  this  eminence,  and  were  extremely  anxious  to 
send  their  Chinamen  down  to  make  a  cup  of  tea  for  us; 
but  as  we  were  not  devoted  to  that  beverage,  and  K.  abso- 


224  MES.    MORSE   STEWART. 

lutel}'^  averse  to  "  Chinesers,"  we  thankfully  declined.  Bj 
this  time  our  inefficient  guide  had  somehow  turned  the 
horses  homeward,  and,  descending  from  our  icy  pinnacle, 
we  were  soon  in  the  saddle,  and  going  down  hill  at  an  angle 
well  calculated  to  try  one's  nerves.  People  talk  about  up 
hill  work,  but  commend  me  to  it  in  preference  to  down 
hill.  At  two  p.  M.  we  were  at  Black's,  and  as  Mrs.  D.  and 
Mrs.  H,,  who  had  not  been  well  enough  to  go  with  us  yes- 
terday, had  taken  Joe  E-idgeway  and  gone  to  Nevada  Falls, 
we  concluded  to  go  over  the  swamps,  which  were  pretty 
deep,  to  Mirror  Lake.  This  little  pocket,  which  is  sur- 
rounded by  rocks  nearly  3,500  feet  high,  has  in  its  center, 
and  almost  filling  every  particle  of  space,  a  lake  fringed  in 
with  exquisite  pine  and  hemlock  growths,  whose  waters 
reflect  the  stupendous  rocks  as  if  they  were  a  veritable  mir- 
ror. The  sight  is  very  beautiful,  and  the  rocks  of  the 
region  certainly  look  quite  different  from  what  they  do  in 
other  parts  of  the  valley.  Here,  too,  we  found  a  house  of 
*'E,estauration,"  took  a  sail — or  rather  row — in  the  boat, 
and  catechised  the  only  inhabitant  of  that  region. 

"  Yes,  he  had  engaged  a  man  to  live  with  him,  but  the 
second  morning  after  his  advent,  and  during  the  absence  of 
the  owner  and  proprietor  of  the  house  and  boat,  there  had 
been  a  terrific  fall  of  rock  in  that  vicinity.  The  fellow 
said  it  shook  him  square  out  of  bed  and  sounded  like  fifty 
cannons  fired  at  once.  The  air  was  thick  with  the  fine  dust 
of  the  rock  all  the  day,  and  he  concluded  to  quit." 

"  Should  think  he  would !  "  was  Mr.  D.'s  response,  in  that 
laconic  and  serio-comic  tone  so  peculiarly  his  own. 

We  all  laughed  and  shouted,  even  the  restauration  man 
himself,  who  immediately  invited  Mr.  D.  to  come  again. 

This  day  has  not  been  like  yesterday  ;  nor  indeed  will 
there  ever  come  another  like  that.     Two  such  are  not  to  be 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  225 

had  in  one  life.  Yet  as  we  turned  homeward  tlie  sinking 
sun  irradiated  rocks  and  river  and  phicid  lake  with  a  golden 
glorj  beautiful  to  remember. 

Friday,  May  31. — This  is  the  first  rainy  day  we  have 
experienced  in  many  weeks.  The  mountains  are  white  with 
snow,  and  damp  and  drear  with  mist.  Tlie  excessive  rains 
and  melting  snows  have  kept  the  Valley  to  this  date  spongy 
and  boggy  as  a  morass,  but  to-day's  rain  bids  fair  to  set  it 
entirely  afloat.  There  is  no  possibility  of  going  off  on  any 
expedition,  and  so  we  have  gathered  ourselves  under  the 
bewitching  influence  of  the  radiated  heat  of  the  pine  logs 
and  cones,  to  be  agreeable.  There  is  a  Philadelphia  party 
here,  "railroad  magnates" — as  Mrs.  W.  tersely  described 
them — who  are  just  the  nicest  people  that  one  can  find  any- 
where. The  children  prattled  in  the  Thee  and  Thou  lan- 
guage which  was  so  familiar  in  my  childhood,  and  the 
smooth-haired,  gentle,  patient,  but  far  from  characterless 
women,  wlio  mend  their  gloves  and  repair  their  rents,  are  a 
new  field  of  enjoyment  to  me.  The  school-girl  of  the 
party,  a  bright  young  thing  that  is  as  genuine  as  human 
nature  ever  is,  tells  me,  in  an  "  aside,"  "  You  travel  with 
people  and  then  you  know  them  ;  these  women  are  just  as 
good  as  women  can  be  made." 

Gradually  into  the  general  conversation  there  drifted  a 
thought  or  two  of  Woman's  rights.  In  the  sheltered  life  I 
had  led  I  could  not  bear  to  think  or  speak  patiently  on  this 
question,  but  our  Quaker  friend  said,  gently  :  "  You  have 
good  laws  in  Michigan — laws  of  protection,  laws  that  pro- 
vide for  women  ;  but  in  Pennsylvania  it  is  far  otherwise." 
And  then  she  detailed  some  of  those  great  moral  wrongs 
that  make  my  erratic  sex  go  off  in  a  tangent  of  sympathy 
and  protest.  "No,"  said  Mrs.  L.  gravely  and  sadly,  "I  do 
not  believe  in  woman) s  rights,  but  I  believe  in  equal  rights." 


226  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

It  was  a  distinction  so  nice  and  yet  so  sensible,  tliat  I  found 
myself  accepting  her  views  in  a  twinkling. 

About  noon  the  rain  fell  more  gently,  and  the  Piutes  of 
the  Valley  came  upon  the  stage.  Oh,  such  Indians  !  There 
is  no  romance  in  them.  The  veteran  of  the  tribe  might 
have  been  five  feet  high ;  his  age  was  hard  to  guess,  but  I 
thought  fifty  years ;  his  hair  white  as  such  an  untidy 
wretch's  could  be,  i.  e.,  yellow  with  smoke  and  grime,  and 
his  general  appearance  unprepossessing  in  the  extreme  ;  and 
yet  he  was  the  best  of  them.  Mr.  D.  and  the  other  gentle- 
men fastened  a  silver  quarter  in  a  split  stick  and  let  the 
various  members  of  the  tribe  shoot  arrows  at  it  till  they 
knocked  it  to  the  ground.  It  was  always  the  old  Piute  who 
won  the  money.  The  younger  ones  leaned  picturesquely 
against  trees  and  stamps,  and  smoked  unpicturesque  cigars. 
After  all  I  have  used  the  wrong  word,  for  though  about 
their  attitude  and  abandon  there  was  a  certain  ease  and 
grace,  their  costume  was  so  far  from  national  or  artistic  that 
picturesque  is  not  the  correct  word.  For  instance,  one 
small  wretch  of  four  feet  in  height  wore  a  pair  of  pantaloons 
that  were  "of  all  things  most  miserable."  The  seams  of 
the  legs  had  ripped  apart  and  the  fronts  and  backs  flew  and 
flapped  about  in  the  storm  like  union  jacks  in  a  gale.  His 
upper  garment  was  a  shirt — a  "  biled  shirt,"  as  the  miners 
descriptively  set  such  forth — that  had  originally  buttoned  in 
the  back ;  at  present  it  met  nowhere,  and  liad  but  one 
sleeve.  His  next  neighbor  was  dressed  in  a  long  frock  coat 
of  that  peculiar  green  that  French  and  German  artists 
rejoice  in  ;  from  its  velvet  collar  and  general  air  I  knew 
some  knight  of  the  brush  had  either  flung  it  away  or 
bestowed  it  upon  this  little  mite  of  a  Piute.  It  swept  to  the 
ground  and  in  the  rear  draggled  off  like  a  lady's  train.  One 
or  two  were  wrapped  in  what  might  have  been  originally 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  227 

bright-colored  blankets.  I  suppose  these  poor  wretches  are 
human — doubtless  they  have  immortal  souls — but  I  fancy 
the  Apostle  Paul  would  have  classified  them  as  "  born  with- 
out the  law." 

The  evening  was  very  social  and  pleasant ;  one  of  the 
Philadelphia  gentlemen  had  been  a  warm  friend  of  my 
father  and  an  elder  in  the  church  of  my  brother.  Two 
San  Francisco  ladies  had  known  my  sister-in-law  well,  and 
sent  her  kindly  messages,  and  when  I  bade  them  good-night 
and  good-bye  I  felt  as  if  I  were  going  out  anew  among 
strangers  ;  indeed,  the  old  joke  that  one  of  my  brothers 
used  to  tell  of  another  flashed  through  my  mind  with  sym- 
pathetic force.  The  two  had  gone  off  on  an  Eastern  and 
seashore  trip.  All  was  smooth  and  comfortable  till  after 
they  reached  JSTew  England.  There  they  began  to  feel  a 
certain  lack  of  consideration  that  at  last  caused  the  elder 
to  say  to  the  younger,  with  some  disgust :  "  Come,  Will, 
let's  go  home,  where  people  at  least  know  who  we  are." 

Saturday,  June  1,  1872.— Mr.  D.  and  Mr.  W.  had  at  last 
settled  how  we  were  to  get  out  of  the  valley,  which  is  a 
conundrum  only  second  to  how  we  were  to  get  into  it,  and 
at  seven  o'clock  our  party  were  in  the  saddle  and  on  the 
move.  "We  were  to  go  via  Clark's  Panch.  The  day  was 
not  to  say  bright  and  fair,  but  it  did  not  rain. 

At  eight  o'clock  we  passed  Bridal  Veil  Fall,  and  by  ten 
o'clock,  after  a  delightful  ride  on  a  very  easy  trail,  reached 
Inspiration  Point.  During  these  hours  the  sun  had  been 
gradually  taking  his  fiery  coursers  in  hand,  and  as  we 
reached  the  plateau  of  this  celebrated  point,  we  faced  our 
horses  about  and  looked  back  upon  a  vision  of  such  glori- 
ous beauty  as  seldom  meets  the  human  eye.  The  rains  and 
snows  of  yesterday  had  softened  with  a  lovely  haze  every 
bleak,  sharp  rock  of  the  mountain,  and  tlie  sun  breaking 


228  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

briglitly  forth  had  begun  to  gather  from  every  pinnacle 
and  point,  from  every  pine  and  cedar,  soft,  misty  waves 
of  vaporous  light  and  dew. 

On  Cloud's  Rest,  the  dark,  stern,  blue-gray  thunderous 
masses  that  piled  about  and  above  this  grand  old  dome 
grew  suddenly  diaphanous — the  glorious  beams  of  day 
shone  through  the  soft,  wave-like  mists  that  draped  its 
sides,  and  from  a  thousand  places  the  misty  gnomes  of  the 
mountains  gathered  their  prismatic  skirts  about  them  and 
went  trooping  off  like  captives  in  the  triumphal  march  of 
a  conquerer.  Oh  !  it  was  as  if  the  twenty-first  chapter  of 
Revelations  was  made  possible  and  patent  to  my  unimagin- 
ative mind.  All  the  outer  world  said  "  Behold,  the  taber- 
nacle of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them, 
and  they  shall  be  His  people,  and  God  Himself  shall  be 
with  them  and  be  their  God,  and  God  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  their  eyes,  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,- 
neither  sorrow  nor  crying  ;  neither  shall  there  be  any  more 
pain,  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away." 

This  little  strip  of  earth  and  sky  looked  readj'^  for  that 
"  glorious  appearing  "  for  which  the  prophets  watched,  for 
which  the  apostles  waited,  and  for  which  some  saints  in  all 
ages  have  longed  and  do  still  long.  Oh,  how  grandl}^  it 
brought  home  the  lessons  taught  me  in  my  father's  life  and 
death,  for  when  his  poor  dumb  lips  had  ceased  to  frame  a 
word  of  speech,  he  forced  a  note  of  triumph,  not  because 
he  had  "  fought  the  good  fight,"  not  that  he  "  had  finished 
his  course,"  nor  yet  that  he  had  "  kept  the  faith,"  but 
because  he  was  numbered  among  them  "  that  love  His 
appearing." 

"With  every  nerve  of  sense  and  spirit  sensitivized  and 
quivering  in  a  rapture  born  of  earth  and  heaven,  I  closed  my 
e3'es  that  the  retina  of  memory  might  henceforth  picture 


TKIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  229 

how  tlie  world  may  look  on  the  grand  day  for  which  we 
wait.  I  had  seen  its  earthly  glory  and  grandeur  at  its  best. 
*  *  *  After  this  it  was  over  rocks  and  trees,  through 
snow  fields  eight  and  ten  feet  deep,  that  our  path  lay.  At 
noon  we  arrived  at  Perrygoy's,  a  nice  eating  house ;  for,  no 
matter  to  what  sublime  heights  your  life  may  reach,  you 
are  always  expected  to  come  down  and  "  take  your  dinner." 
When  I  left  home  I  recalled  father's  great  traveling  maxim 
— make  it  a  point  to  eat  and  sleep  at  the  proper  time,  if 
possible — but  eat  and  sleep.  Hence  the  nice,  fresh,  well 
spread  tables  laden  with  good  food  were  not  objectionable. 
Here  we  met  a  party  who  had  come  from  Clark's.  A 
groom  came  forward  and  invited  me  to  change  horses  with 
a  lady  somewhat  more  elderly  than  myself.  He  said  her 
steed  had  been  seized  with  the  "blind  staggers,"  and  w-as 
not  safe  to  ride  into  the  valley.  Of  course  I  changed  and 
took  my  chances  on  carrying  the  creature  into  Clark's. 
She  got  me  there  safe,  it's  true,  but  the  next  morning  was 
so  low  that  Joe  Ridgway  said,  "  She  has  made  her  last 
tripy 

About  four  in  the  afternoon,  while  Mrs.  D.  and  I  were 
coaxing  our  jaded  beasts  over  the  ground,  and  urging  for- 
ward the  small  young  pack  mule  that  was  wonderfully  over- 
whelmed with  baggage,  and  which  had  been  driven  by 
everybody  and  called  "the  baby,"  we  missed  K.  I  remem- 
bered having  seen  her  as  I  crossed  a  certain  stream.  Mr. 
D.  and  Joe,  the  guide,  rode  back  to  ascertain  if  anything 
had  happened.  In  crossing  this  very  stream  she  had  not 
noticed  a  tough  and  strong  branch  of  a  poison  oak  that  jut- 
ted out  over  the  water.  This  caught  her  in  its  remorseless 
grip  and  dragged  her  from  her  saddle.  She  was  too  weary 
and  shocked  to  get  up  and  rc-mount,  and  so  sat  down  until 
help  came  and  she  was  made  all  right  once  more.     The 


230  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

result  of  this  was  that  Mrs.  D.  and  I  rode  gently  forward 
through  a  pleasant  forest,  my  horse  growing  step  by  step 
weaker.  H.  and  Mr.  W.  had  gone  on  at  a  more  rapid  rate. 
About  five  the  party  rallied  once  more,  and  we  came  into 
Clark's  with  some  show  of  life  and  vigor.  "  Clark's  "  was  a 
group  of  three  long,  low,  one-story  houses,  with  piazzas 
around  the  four  sides.  The  inhabitants  poured  out  like 
bees  from  a  disturbed  hive,  each  one  shouting  in  a  more  or 
less  minor  key,  "Here's  a  party  from  the  Yalley  at  last." 
One  clever,  nice  looking  old  soul,  of  sixty  or  thereabouts, 
set  her  spectacles  square  upon  her  nose,  and  walking  up  to 
me,  said :  "  We  are  to  have  3'our  horses  ;  is  this  a  good 
one  ? "  Fancy  her  feelings  when  I  told  her  the  creature 
was  nearly  dead.  I  gave  this  lady  a  card  on  which  I  wrote 
for  her  aid  the  route  and  days'  journeys  for  a  week. 

We  found  forty  people  had  been  waiting  at  Clark's  three 
days  for  horses  to  go  into  the  Valley,  and  now  there  were 
but  ten  for  them  all. 

Our  fare  was  good  and  rooms  pleasant,  and  the  Mariposa 
Grove  but  seven  miles  away  ;  but  I  began  to  feel  wretchedly 
ill,  and  was  not  sorry  the  next  morning  to  get  started  for  a 
more  settled  region.  Barbour  had  made  a  private  arrange- 
ment with  Dunning  that  his  coach  would  carry  us  to  the 
town  of  Mariposa.  It  was  a  large  liberal  red  C  spring 
affair  that  outshone  our  own  conveyance,  but  in  the  long- 
run  did  not  prove  one-half  so  good, 

Next  me,  at  breakfast,  sat  a  weak-looking  man  with  a 
straight  nose,  blue  eyes,  and  horrid  long  flaxen  curls,  parted 
in  the  middle  of  his  head,  and  straggling  all  over  his  blue 
coat  collar  and  down  his  back.  In  the  buttonhole  of  his  coat 
he  wore  a  maroon  rosebud,  and  about  his  neck  a  maroon 
tie  of  exactly  the  same  shade.  His  nether  extremities  were 
finished  off  with  a  pair  of  miner's  boots  reaching  above  the 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  231 

kuee.  Oil  the  other  side  of  Iiim  a  rather  pretty  Boston- 
looking,  Boston-acting  Boston  girl  was  dawdling  over  her 
breakfast  and  making  eyes  of  admiration  at  this  effeminate 
creature.  The  assumption  of  the  man,  and  a  clear,  white, 
intellectual  looking  brow,  made  me  curious  to  inquire  who 
or  what  he  was.  "  Joaquin  (or  as  they  pronounce  it  '  Wau- 
keen')  Miller,  the  poet  of  the  Sierras."  I  was  prepared  at 
once  to  believe  all  that  his  wife  had  said  or  might  say  of 
such  a  figure-head.  As  for  the  Boston  girl,  I  looked  a  little 
Western  contempt  at  her.  Dear  me,  I  used  to  be  a  West- 
ern woman — Michigan  was  West — but  here  they  talk  of  us 
as  "  You  folks  from  the  east."  I  cannot  say  I  like  it.  The 
last  I  saw  of  the  "  Poet  of  the  Sierras,  Waukeen  Miller," 
he  was  striding  his  seven-league  boots  in  the  direction  of 
Mariposa  Grove. 

At  half-past  eight  we  were  under  way  for  civilization. 
About  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  we  saw,  coming  along  a  narrow 
strip  of  road,  a  procession  of  forlorn-looking  vehicles  that 
appeared  more  like  a  country  funeral  than  anj'thing  else  I 
could  think  of.  Suddenly  crash,  smash,  went  something — 
the  poor  old  wagon  wheel,  I  think,  for  it  tilted  up  against 
the  face  of  a  very  hot  rock,  and  stood  still.  At  this  junc- 
ture we  flashed  in  all  the  glory  of  red  and  yellow  paint  and 
C  springs  upon  the  whilom  proprietor  of  this  two  "  horse 
shay."  lie  was  a  "gentleman  from  Boston,"  There  was  a 
Boston  cut  to  his  breeches — an  elderly,  substantial  air  of 
having  made  money  about  him.  He  knew  who  lie  was,  if 
we  did  not.  lie  could  evidently  draw  his  check  ;  but,  alas 
for  him,  he  had  reached  a  point  where  that  sort  of  ability 
no  longer  availed.  Three  Boston  spinsters,  looking  sad, 
depressed,  and  terribly  overcrowded,  sat  in  the  still  tilting 
carry-all.  The  vehicles  in  the  rear  were  all  sto))ped  ;  the 
rows  of  j)eople  looked   on  ;    no   one  manifested   surprise, 


232  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

neither  did  any  one  signify  interest.  "  Mr.  Boston's  car- 
riage stops  the  way,"  whispered  I  to  Mr.  D.,  who  had 
been  looking  seriously  on.  That  gentleman  hid  a  smile 
behind  his  mustache,  but  there  must  have  been  a  glint  to 
his  eye  or  a  wrinkle  to  his  nose  that  betrayed  his  amuse- 
ment, for  in  a  second  more  "Mr.  Boston"  took  the  rostrum. 
He  rode  a  tilt  straight  at  Mr.  D.  "  Is  this  the  way  you  do 
things  in  this  abominable  swindling  country  ?  I  engaged 
passage  for  my  party  in  your  stage"  —  (Mr.  D.  visibly 
winced  under  the  accusation  of  being  a  California  stage  pro- 
prietor, and  we  all  attributed  the  mistake  to  the  "  wide- 
awake" San  Francisco  hat  he  was  wearing)  —  "and  we 
ought  to  have  left  Merced  four  days  ago ;  not  a  vehicle  to 
be  had,  and  people  pouring  in  there  by  the  hundred ;  I 
could  not  stand  it  any  longer.  I  went  out  and  found  tliese 
horses  (poor  spavined  old  wretches)  and  this  carriage  for 
these  ladies,  and  we  got  up  at  four  o'clock  this  morning 
and  we  have  crawled  to  this  infernal  spot."  "  Yes,"  said 
Mr.  D.,  soUo  voce,  "  to  us  it  is  as  hot  as  Tophet."  "And 
there  you  sit  as  if  you  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Just 
have  that  stage  of  yours  turn  round  and  take  these  ladies  to 
Clark's."  "Thunder,"  said  Mr.  D.  to  us,  "I  think  it's 
about  time  I  should  enlighten  the  man,  and  tell  him  he  has 
waked  up  the  wrong  customer."  But  his  natural  good 
heart,  combining  with  the  entreaty  of  four  women,  who  all 
felt  that  it  must  be  an  inexpressible  relief  under  such  aggra- 
vating circumstances  to  blow  up  somebody,  "  stimulated 
him  to  greater  patience."  Barbour,  our  driver,  told  Mr. 
Boston  that  ours  was  a  "private  carriage,"  but  as  they  never 
painted  "private  carriages"  red  and  yellow  in  Boston,  nor 
built  them  to  carry  twelve  and  baggage,  nor  flourished  the 
name  of  "Barbour  &  Drake"  on  the  outside,  he  simply 
declined   to   receive    the   statement.     At  last  one  of   the 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  233 

return  stages,  that  started  when  we  did,  came  up.  Mr. 
Boston's  party  got  themselves  into  it,  we  backed  up  to  a 
little  broader  piece  of  the  road,  and  saw  the  whole  mel- 
ancholy procession  of  mournful  pilgrims  file  past  us. 
Further  down  the  road  we  passed  four  young  men  on  foot 
bravely  struggling  forward  to  the  "  Yosemite  Valley."  At 
one  o'clock  we  were  in  Mariposa  and  found  Dunning 
waiting  for  us.  Oh,  how  glad  we  were  to  see  him.  How 
thankful  for  his  shabby,  easy  old  coach. 

"  Oil,"  said  Dunning,  as  he  noticed  our  satisfaction,  "  the 
way  to  make  people  contented  is  to  starve  them  down  to 
anything — book  them  for  the  Valley — send  them  to  Mer- 
ced— and  after  they  have  waited  at  the  hotel  at  four  dollars 
a  day  for  three  days,  bring  out  your  shabby  old  go-carts 
and  call  them  'a  chance  to  get  forward'  — stop  them  over 
at  Clark's  at  three  dollars  a  day,  till  they  are  desperate 
enough  to  take  any  kind  of  a  pony  or  mule  that  comes  to 
hand,  and  then  you  never  hear  any  more  complaints." 

At  six  o'clock  this  evening  we  reached  Hornitas  and 
found  a  nice  comfortable  supper  of  broiled  chicken,  baked 
potatoes,  etc.,  etc.  We  had  staged  fifty-one  miles  over  a  not 
very  interesting  country,  and  I  began  to  feel  so  ill  that  I 
determined  not  to  return  to  San  Francisco,  but  rest  at 
Lathrop's,  and  then  go  to  Sacramento. 

About  seven  o'clock  Dunning  came  in  and  told  us  that  if 
we  wished  to  get  to  San  Francisco  the  next  day  we  must  go 
on  to  Merced  that  night,  or  at  least  get  there  before  half- 
past  six  A..  M.  The  moon  was  to  rise  at  two  a.  m.  Dunning 
was  willing  to  get  up  at  that  hour  and  drive  us.  It  was  a 
matter  of  much  importance  for  us,  and  we  concluded  to  try 
it.  We  paid  our  hotel  bills — the  hostess  left  us  a  nice 
luiicli  in  case  we  found  no  chance  of  breakfast  anywhere, 
and  at  eight  p.  m.  we  retired.     I  slept  soundly  six  hours ; 

21 


234  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

rose,  washed,  dressed,  and  appeared  at  the  door  with  the 
stage.  All  parties  were  prompt  but  the  raoon  On  we 
traveled  into  the  darkness,  groping  our  way  over  sandy 
plains,  or  loose,  low  hills  of  grit  and  gravel,  until  at  length 
the  day  began  to  dawn  faintly,  and  with  soft  tinges  of  light 
and  color  the  sky  behind  us  grew  palely  radiant.  A  shy 
rabbit  or  mousing  owl  glanced  here  and  there  across  our 
path.  The  sun  gave  more  and  more  glow  to  earth  and  air, 
and  at  four  o'clock,  with  one  swift  bound,  shot  up  above  a 
hill-top  and  opened  to  us  the  gates  of  day.  Dunning  did 
not  know  the  road,  but,  striking  into  a  strip  of  sand  from 
which  the  wheat  had  been  mowed,  he  "guessed  his  way 
along."  Indeed,  this  was  the  first  California  wheat  field  we 
had  ever  seen.  On  either  side  of  us  the  tall  ripe  grain 
stood  like  a  five-foot  hedge.  No  barns,  no  houses — only 
miles  and  miles  of  unfenced  wheat  just  ready  for  the  mower. 
Here  and  there  a  patent  steam  threshing  machine  rusted  its 
useless  life  away  ;  either  it  had  proved  a  failure  or  had  been 
worn  out  by  a  single  crop.  At  last  we  saw  a  pitiful, 
shabby  looking  house,  and  then,  miles  more  of  wheat.  At 
half-past  six  Merced  was  in  sight — that  is  to  say,  the  huge 
hotel  that  has  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  a  million  and  a-half 
of  money,  and  had  been  open  but  a  day  or  two.  "  On 
time"  we  dismounted  —  travel-stained,  dusty,  but  on  the 
whole  fresh  from  our  morning  ride  of  twenty-five  miles. 
Half-a-dozen  darkies  sprang  forward  with  long  whisk 
brooms  in  their  hands,  and  made  us  clean  and  tidy  in  three 
seconds ;  we  had  time  to  wash,  eat  a  good  breakfast,  and 
take  the  train  at  seven  a.  m.  After  thirty  miles  of  railroad- 
ing I  felt  I  had  done  all  the  traveling  I  could  do  that  day, 
and  at  Lathrop's,  a  place  characterized  by  a  grizzly  bear, 
insisted  upon  being  left.  It  was  a  nice  hotel,  handsomely 
furnished.     My  meals  were  served  in  my  room  ;    but  too 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  235 

soon  I  found  I  was  the  only  woman  in  the  place.  Oli,  such 
fright  and  terror  as  one  feels  at  this  sort  of  solitude ;  but 
on  Tuesday,  June  4th,  at  nightfall,  an  English  lady  and  her 
husband  appeared.  I  had  met  thetn  at  Clark's  ;  and  after 
bidding  a  somewhat  sentimental  adieu  to  the  grizzly  bear, 
whose  name  was  "  Betsey,"  1  left  in  their  company  on  the 
5th  for  Sacramento.  I  had  "  done  the  Yalle}'^,"  but  had 
overdone  Mrs.  S.,  and  wanted  a  long  rest  ere  I  took  the 
homeward  express. 

Sacramento,  Wednesday,  June  5th. — As  I  stood  at  the 
window  at  Lathrop's,  watching  the  express  train  over  the 
Union  Pacific,  I  saw  handkerchiefs  waving  and  heard  cries 
of  welcome  from  my  old  fellow-travelers,  the  F.'s,  who 
had  joined  us  at  Salt  Lake  the  29th  of  April.  We  had 
exchanged  visits  in  San  Francisco,  and  they  had  begun,  in 
this  far-away  land,  to  seem  like  old  friends.  They  begged 
me  to  go  with  them  to  Sacramento,  and  as  the  English  lady 
was  also  to  leave,  I  gave  up  my  trunk  for  which  I  had  been 
waiting,  and  gathering  up  the  light  weights  of  satchel  and 
dressing-case,  was  off,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  hotel  keeper,  prom- 
ising to  forward  my  heavier  baggage  without  delay.  At 
Sacramento  I  went  to  the  Golden  Eagle,  a  handsome  hotel, 
kept  with  a  Southern  slackness  that  is  oblivious  to  ants  and 
otlier  small  vermin. 

Thursday. — Was  too  sick  and  miserable,  too  feverish  and 
forlorn,  to  do  anything  but  call  upon  a  physician,  Dr.  C, 
who  had  just  returned  from  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  at  Philadelphia.  I  had  lived  so  many 
years  in  the  atmosphere  of  "  the  profession,"  that  I  thought 
I  would  not  "  let  on  "  I  was  a  physician's  wife.  Dr.  C. 
heard  my  simple  statement,  saw  the  irritating  trouble  of  my 
ear,  recognized  it  as  something  peculiar,  and  out  of  the 
common  way,  and  called  his  brother,  a  physician  from  Pliil- 


236  MRS.    MORSK   STEWART. 

adelplila.  He  was  evidjBntly  a  poor,  tired  man,  over-M'orked 
and  over-wearied  ;  lie  wore  a  wig,  had  a  clean-shaved  face, 
and  was  "as  cross  as  a  badger"  — in  short,  a  medical  auto- 
crat of  the  old  school.  He  made  some  suo-crestion  to  his 
brother  that  I  understood,  and  to  which  I  replied,  "  Oh, 
that  has  been  thoroughly  tried."  He  glanced  at  me,  and 
said,  "  Then  so  and  so  "  — which  latter  words  were  expressed 
in  very  large  Latin.  Fortunately  I  comprehended  him,  and 
again  answered,  "I  have  been  all  over  that  ground."  He 
fastened  an  eye-glass  into  his  eye,  surveyed  me  with  uncon- 
cealed disdain,  gave  a  contemptuous  and  defiant  snort,  and 
left  the  room  in  a  manner  that  said  more  plainly  than 
words,  '"  I'll  not  trouble  my  head  with  an  old  chronic  like 
that." 

His  brother  then  gave  the  verdict  of  "  want  of  assimila- 
tion ;"  added  a  harmless  little  prescription,  and  did  show  a 
kindly  interest  in  a  wom.an  so  utterly  lonely.  If  the  worst 
came  to  the  worst,  I  could  look  back  upon  this  gentleman 
with  a  feeling  of  trust  and  dependence.  His  brother  might 
be  more  eminent,  but  he  had  been  worn  out  in  the  service 
of  mankind,  and  "chronic  cases"  were  an  abomination  no 
longer  to  be  endured.  I  went  home  to  my  hotel  laughing 
at,  as  well  as  pitying,  that  poor,  tired-out  doctor. 

Friday,  June  7. — The  R.'s  called  upon  me  and  invited 
me  to  dine.  They  were  old  Pennsylvanians,  with  all  the 
Lancaster  county  hospitality  still  in  the  ascendant.  After 
dinner  (which  was  at  the  usual  California  hour,  six  p.  m., 
luncheon  taking  the  place  of  our  noonday  meal),  we  drove 
about  Sacramento,  saw  the  great  drawbi'idge  over  the  river, 
which  is  a  turbid  running  stream  that  in  the  spring  pours 
a  thick  and  furious  flood  of  yellow  water  over  half  the  city  ; 
went  through  the  Chinese  quarter,  from  thence  to  the  race- 
course, where  all  the  great  races  of  the  State  take  place ;  the 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  237 

track  seemed  lieavy,  the  very  dust  looking  fat  and  oleagi- 
nous. On  our  way  back  we  stopped  at  the  Capitol,  an 
immense  structure  of  an  old  fashioned  style  of  architecture, 
surmounted  by  a  tremendous  dome.  Near  this  stand  the 
governor's  residence  and  the  houses  of  other  dignitaries  and 
officials.  A  great  park  is  laid  out  having  these  govern- 
ment buildings  as  its  central  point.  All  these  have  been 
erected  at  government  expense,  and  have  cost  fearful  sums 
of  money,  l^ever  before  had  I  realized  the  practical  inde- 
pendence of  California  government. 

Here  was  the  foundation  of  a  second  great  capital  tliat 
miglit  rival  Washington  itself.  Here  tlie  great  railroad 
interests  of  this  huge  State  are  bought  and  sold,  log-rolled 
and  bribed  for,  in  a  manner  so  shameless  and  unbhishing 
that  I  fairly  shudder  to  hear  of  it.  In  the  winter  Sacra- 
mento is  the  Washington  of  the  Pacific  slope ;  the  gover- 
nor of  the  State  steps  into  the  gubernatorial  mansion,  which 
is  furnished  with  the  greatest  magnificence,  just  as  the 
President  takes  possession  of  the  White  House. 

From  this  State  park  we  went  to  the  cemetery  and  saw 
first  the  capital  burial  ground,  a  plat  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  square ;  it  has  a  number  of  graves  in  it,  and  in  four 
corners  stand  four  tall  monuments,  each  marking  the  rest- 
ing place  of  some  legislator  who  has  died  a  violent  death  ; 
two  had  been  killed  in  duels,  one  shot  in  the  Senate  cham- 
ber, and  the  fourth  rushed  into  eternity  in  some  equally 
lawless  manner.  They  seem  to  have  some  crude  idea  of 
dignity  and  heroism  in  such  a  fierce  and  sudden  ending. 

Here,  too,  we  saw  a  mausoleum  that  had  cost  many 
thousands  of  dollars,  and  was  built  by  a  woman  whose  nuir- 
ital  relations  were  a  great  deal  more  complicated  than  those 
of  the  woman  of  Samaria.  She  had  placed  this  heavy  testi- 
monial over  the  grave  of  her  son,  iier  only  child,  who  had 


238  MKS.   MOKSE   STEWART. 

died  in  the  flower  of  his  manhood,  yet  who  had  lived  long 
enough  to  inherit  the  curse  of  the  second  commandment. 
And  now  she,  poor  creature,  the  richest  woman  in  Sacra- 
mento, lay  a  dying — she,  knowing  all  her  sins  and  no  Saviour, 
had  well-nigh  reached  her  end ;  tlie  temporary  husbands, 
and  one  or  two  who  had  some  sort  of  marriage  certificates, 
were  fiditing  it  out  around  her  death-bed.  She  could 
make  no  will,  and  indeed  only  occasionally  rallied  her 
powers  to  "  swear  a  prayer  or  two."  Her  death  will  add 
another  twist  to  the  already  complicated  titles  of  all  Sacra- 
mento property.  Lloyd  Tevis,  whom  we  met  in  the  Val- 
ley, and  who,  unless  his  face  belies  him,  is  a  double-distilled 
"  schemer,"  expects  to  "  clean  out  the  town  "  with  an  old 
Spanish  claim. 

Saturday,  June  8. — Went  down  to  see  the  draw-bridge 

open  ;  it  is  quite  a  wonderful  performance.    Met  Dr.  C , 

who  was  going  to  Davisville  on  a  hand  car,  a  little  bit  of 
an  affair,  four  by  six  feet,  propelled  by  a  couple  of  handles 
worked  by  men,  and  reminding  me  of  the  brakes  of  an  old- 
fashioned  hand  fire  engine.  Exactly  fifteen  people  crowded 
themselves  upon  this  small  platform.  The  last  I  saw  of 
Dr.  C ,  he  was  going  to  visit  some  poor  sick  soul  inac- 
cessible by  carriage,  boat,  or  steam  car,  for  he  had  two 
rivers  and  three  swamps  to  cross  before  he  reached  his 
destination.  Am  too  wretched  to  go  out  again  to  day,  and 
have  sent  a  regret  to  the  R s  for  dinner. 

Sabbath,  June  9. — The  weather  has  been  exhaustingly 
hot,  but  the  town  is  built  as  Los  Angeles  is,  with  those 
peculiar  porches  shading  the  sidewalks.  I  therefore  went 
to  church.  Oh,  the  peace  and  comfort  of  a  quiet  corner  in 
the  sanctuary  !  It  was  a  plain,  comfortable  looking  build- 
ing, with  a  fair  congregation.  The  Sabbath  school  was 
well    conducted,  and   the    boys   and  girls    interested   and 


TRIP   TO   CALIFOKNIA.  239 

attentive.  1  liad  in  my  class  a  bright  intelligent  fellow, 
whose  red  skin  and  black  hair  betokened  Spanish,  Moorish, 
or  Mexican  blood.  Here  they  call  them  Indians,  but  they 
are  the  regular  "  greasers"  of  Lower  California. 

Monday,  June  10. — Have  just  found  my  trunk,  and 
learned  that  no  baggage  is  ever  delivered  between  San 
Francisco  and  Sacramento  on  a  "through  ticket,"  the  fare 
being  exactly  the  same  to  each  city,  although  the  former  is 
so  much  further.  I  learn  there  is  a  great  traffic  in  tickets, 
the  way  fare  on  the  Union  Pacific  being  so  high  that  many 
miners  and  others  buy  tickets  clear  through,  and  sell  them 
and  re-sell  them  all  the  way  to  Omaha.  Freights  are 
equally  extravagant,  and  many  dodges  are  resorted  to  in 
evasion  of  the  excessive  tax.  This  is  obnoxious  to  the  citi- 
zens of  the  State  on  many  accounts. 

Tuesday,  June  11. — Left  Sacramento  at  2.30  p.  m.   for 

home.     Of  our  party  only  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.,  H and 

myself  remained.     Mr.  W ,  K and  Will  returned 

by  sea.  I  felt  far  from  well,  and  the  idea  of  getting  home 
as  wretched  as  I  left  it,  was  not  encouraging.  About  five 
o'clock  we  began  to  pass  the  most  beautiful  scenery  on  the 
road,  but  for  some  reason  it  had  suffered  a  change ;  there 
was  something  wrong  with  the  Sierras ;  they  failed  to 
impress  one  as  they  had  a  couple  of  months  before.  At 
last  I  asked  my  little  sister,  Mrs.  D.,  "  What  in  the  world  is 
the  matter  with  these  mountains?"  Her  answer  was  the 
true  one  :  "  The  Yosemite  has  taken  the  life  out  of  them," 
Those  higher  Sierras  give  one  views  and  ideas,  and  a  stand- 
ard of  criticism  that  nothing  hereafter  will  come  up  to ; 
they  are  the  heavenly  places  of  this  poor  old  world  of  ours. 
Henceforth  we  must  look  back  to  them  as  the  grand  sights 
of  our  lives. 

Wednesda}',  June   12th. — Was   taken  very  sick   indeed, 


240  MRS.   MOESE   STEWART. 

but  after  we  left  Cheyenne  had  still  life  enough  to  enjoy 
the  wild  flowers  of  the  plains  of  Colorado — one  mass  of 
bean tif 111  bloom.  When  the  cars  stopped,  the  gentlemen 
would  get  off  and  gather  us  the  most  exquisite  blue  flowers 
I  ever  saw.  It  was  five  hours'  journey  from  Cheyenne  to 
Denver,  On  this  little  piece  of  independent  road  there  are 
no  Pullman  cars,  and,  ill  as  I  was,  I  found  myself  compelled 
to  keep  a  sitting  posture.  The  California  ladies  on  the 
car  brought  me  pillows  and  were  most  kind,  and  I  forced 
myself  to  look  out  of  the  window  and  see  the  rarely  occa- 
sional towns  that  we  passed.  Greeley,  for  instance,  was  a 
little  bit  of  a  cluster  of  hastily-built  houses  on  a  level  plain. 
A  very  unpretentious  river  ran  through  it,  and  but  for  the 
heavenly  blue  sky  that  stretched  above,  and  the  soft  fresh 
summer  breeze,  redolent  of  plain  and  prairie,  that  swept 
over  it,  there  would  have  been  absolutely  nothing  to  recom- 
mend the  spot.  When,  at  six  p.  m.,  we  reached  Denver,  I 
was  past  caring  for  town  or  countr3%  and  was  carried  to  the 
hotel  and  put  to  bed  in  a  room  seven  by  nine  or  six  by 
seven.  In  two  hours  we  were  again  en  route^  and  from  this 
time  until  we  reached  Kansas  City,  I  can  tell  nothing  of 
the  journey  except  that  it  was  one  prolonged  shake  and  jar. 
One  instant  the  motion  was  from  head  to  foot,  the  next 
from  side  to  side,  and  the  third  a  jolt  that  sent  every  quiv- 
ering nerve  into  a  convulsion  of  pain.  Such  nights,  such 
days — such  suffering — are  not  to  be  rehearsed.  My  dear 
little  sister  clung  to  me  and  watched  over  me  with  the  ten- 
derest  anxiety.  I  knew  I  was  not  a  pleasant  traveling  com- 
panion, but  no  one  else  would  admit  the  fact.  On  Sabbath 
morning  we  reached  Kansas  City,  and  for  twelve  hours  I 
lay  still  in  my  bed,  and  rallied  enough  with  the  day's  rest 
to  go  on  in  the  night  train  to  St.  Louis,  at  which  spot  I  col- 
lapsed entirely,  and  for  some  days  hovered  on  the  verge  of 


TRIP   TO   CALIFORNIA.  241 

prostrating  fever.  N"o  one  could  liave  had  kinder  attention 
or  more  devoted  care,  and  the  best  of  medical  advice.  On 
Thursday,  Dr.  B.  said  :  "  Get  out  of  this  city  ;  the  sewer- 
age, these  low  bottom-land  miasmas,  are  poison  to  you  ;  this 
deadly  heat  will  sweep  you  into  a  more  disastrous  illness ; 
get  out  of  this  city."  So  Mrs.  D.  and  I  started  in  the 
evening.  Any  one  who  has  ever  crossed  the  Mississippi 
river  into  or  out  of  St.  Louis,  knows  it  was  no  light  under- 
taking, but  once  under  way  we  soon  reached  Detroit,  * 
*         *         My  journal  has  this  date  and  entry  : 

Wednesday,  June  26. — I  am,  really,  home  once  more — 
home  to  the  five  children  that  could  so  ill  have  spared 
me — home  to  the  kind  friend  who  stood  at  the  helm  of  my 
household  all  these  months — home  to  the  true  and  anxious 
heart  that  had  followed  me  so  faithfully  through  all  my 
wanderings — home  to  the  four  walls  that  had  been  my  first 
childhood  home  in  Michigan  thirty-four  years  ago,  and 
which  is  now  my  children's  home,  where  for  years  we  have 
gathered  them  around  a  genuine  hearth-stone — home  to 
dear  old  Grosse  Pointe,  to  the  comfort  and  blessed  peace  of 
"  Rest  Cottage,"  my  lakeside  home,  where  "  the  green  pas- 
tures and  still  waters"  will  once  more  "restore  my  soul." 
May  I  from  hence  "  walk  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for 
His  name's  sake,"  for  now  I  am  home  to  all  the  dear  ones 
that  love  me  and  that  I  love — home  to  the  very  hillside 
where  are  garnered  my  dead. 

Home,  love  and  children,  and  some  skill  to  grasp 
From  the  rich  world  its  opportunities  ; 
What  more  could  heart  desire  or  full  hands  clasp  ; 
Surely,  ray  life,  like  some  glad  tune,  will  go. 
That  God  has  blessed  me  so. 


242  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

CLOSE  OP  THE  CALIFORNIA.  JOURNAL. 

Dear : 

As  I  have  written  up  my  California  journal,  I  find 
that  more  than  once,  ill  health  is  spoken  of.  In  justice  to 
the  after  effects  of  that  journey  (painful  as  at  times  it 
seemed  to  be  in  the  progress  of  it),  I  can  only  say  that  / 
hane  been  thoroughly  and  entirely  well  ever  since  iny 
rettirn,  for  now  more  than  a  year — a  comfort  to  myself 
and  my  family.  The  tour  could  be  taken  in  a  much  easier 
fashion  than  we  took  it;  the  Yosemite  reached  by  a  less 
trying  but  never  by  so  beautiful  a  route  ;  and  if  I  had  it  to 
do  over  again  I  would  show  that  I  had  profited  by  experi- 
ence.    As  it  is,  I  have  every  reason  to  speak  well  of  this 

trip  as  a  healtli  restorer. 

Ever  Yours,  L  G.  D.  S. 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD. 


I^etters  frnm  Abroad, 


These  letters  were  pulilished  during  Mrs.  Stewart's  absence  from 
home.  After  her  return,  she  was  never  able  to  procure  the  full  text. 
Such  as  are  available,  however,  are  here  given— although  contrary  to  the 
original  plan— for  the  reason  that  change  of  place  and  circumstance 
will,  it  is  believed,  enhance  the  general  interest  of  the  book,  but  chiefly 
because  in  them,  as  in  none  other  of  the  papers,  is  shown,  in  some  meas- 
ure, her  rare  gift  of  domestic  economy. 

WiJRZBURG,  May  20,  1875. 

Dear  Mary — I  suppose  you  think  it  gives  a  scant  idea 

of  England  and  English  scenery,  to  say,  as  I  practically  did 

in  iny  last  letter,  tliat  we   stepped   on  board  the   train   at 

Chester  and  off  at  London!!  —  and  might  have  made  the 

flight  in  six  hours,  had  we  been  so  minded.     But  how  does 

all  this  Old  England  look?  is  the  great  question.     It  was  in 

May,  when  everything  was   green  with    a   greenness  not 

indigenous  to  Michigan — brilliant, glowing  shades  unknown 

to  us  ;  and  yet 

"  On  English  ground, 
You  understand  the  letter, — ere  the  Fall 
How  Adam  Hoed  in  a  garden  !  ! — All  the  fields 
Are  tied  up  fast  with  hedges,  nosegay -like — 
The  hills  are  crumpled  plains— the  plains  parterres, 
The  trees  round,  woolly,  ready  to  be  clipped, 
And  if  you  seek  for  any  wilderness 
You  find,  at  best,  a  park,— a  nature  tamed 
And  grown  domestic  like  a  barn  door  fowl. 
Which  does  not  awe  you  with  its  claws  and  beak, 
Nor  tempt  you  to  an  eyrie  too  high  up, 
But  which,  in  cackling,  sets  you  thinking  of 
Your  eggs,  to-morrow  at  breakfast,  in  the  pause 
Of  meditation." 

The  country  really  looks  like  a  school-boy's  Sunday  face, 

all  washed  and  shining,  but  not  half  as  picturesque  as  if  it 


244:  MRS.    MOESE    STEWART. 

were  reasonably  dirty.  Thus  far  I  have  not  been  impressed, 
especially  as  we  readied  London  ahead  of  time  in  a  pouring 
rain,  and  found  that  our  apartments  would  not  be  ready  for 
us  till  the  next  day.  To  be  homeless  and  houseless  in  this 
great  metropolis  during  "the  season,"  is  forlorn,  but  we  fell 
back  upon  Mr.  Burr,  11  Queen's  Square,  who  was  most 
obliging,  and  furnished  us  with  quarters  that  were  very 
comfortable.  We  found  several  families  of  friends  there, 
and  sat  down  to  our  first  dinner  in  London — a  party  of 
fifteen  Detroiters,  notwithstanding  we  had  divided  our  own 
party,  and  left  Mrs.  H.  and  Miss  R.  in  Crown  street.  As 
for  myself,  I  was  in  the  condition  of  the  elderly  bachelor  in 
an  old  friend's  Valentine,  who  having  set  his  heart  on  sere- 
nading his  inamorata,  at  length  was  compelled  to  make  the 
painful  confession — 

"I'm  sick,  and  sore,  and  miserable, 
And  wet,  and  cold,  and  tired. 
And  now  I  cannot  play  upon 
This  banjo  that  I've  hired." 

But  a  night's  rest  set  me  so  far  right  that  the  next  day  I 
drove  to  the  National  Gallery.  I  suppose  that  all  Ameri- 
cans feel  that  one — perhaps  the  one  grand  thing  to  see  in 
Europe — is  paintings.  We  know  only  in  part  the  great 
things  that  distinguish  art  and  artists  in  this  old  world. 
Among  the  more  modern  artists,  we  have  seen  engravings 
from  Landseer  and  Turner,  and  the  lesser  lights;  but 
engravings,  be  they  never  so  fine,  are  too  apt  to  be  like 
that  showiest  of  plays  with  Hamlet  left  out.  There  had 
hung  for  years  an  exquisite  bit  of  line  engraving  in  a  very 
noticeable  spot  on  my  drawing  room  walls ;  I  had  studied 
it  till  I  loved  it,  and  with  it  had  felt  an  unspeakable  admi- 
ration for  Turner  and  his  work.  His  life  and  his  paintings 
were  so  entirely  at  variance,  that  long  ago  I  dropped  the 


LETTERS   FROM    ABROAD.  245 

man  and  merged  all  my  admiration  in  the  artist,  and,  as  I 
stood  at  the  portal  of  what  seemed  to  open  to  me  a  new 
Avorld,  I  bowed  my  head  and  entered  reverently. 

The  first  room  was  filled  with  specimens  of  early  art,  i.  <?., 
from  the  fourteenth  to  the  sixteenth  century,  crude,  sheep- 
ish-looking Virgins,  with  halos  flaring  around  their  faces,  or 
even  more  forlorn-looking  Saints.  The  Christ  of  this  period 
was  so  utterly  vague  in  execution,  that  one  passed  it  with 
dismay  that  it  could  ever  have  entered  into  tlie  imagination 
of  man  to  conceive  anything  so  unsatisfactory  ;  and  yet 
these  were  the  initial  steps  that  have  led  to  such  wondrous 
results  in  art.  Each  room  in  its  order  showed  the  advance- 
ment of  conception  and  execution.  But  by  some  chance  we 
came  upon  Landseer's  paintings  just  a  room  before  we 
should  have  done,  and  his  "  spick  span  new "  dogs  and 
horses,  his  bright  shining  back  and  fore  grounds,  unripened 
or  rather  unmellowed  by  age,  were  rather  startling;  they 
were  new  enough  to  suit  the  most  fastidious  on  that  point, 
but  they  were  withal  very  charming ;  one  old  white  dog 
wagged  a  stumpy  tail  at  you,  in  a  manner  that  would  have 
tempted  you  to  forswear  yourself  and  make  oath  that  you 
saw  it  vibrate.  These  have  all  been  so  generally  engraved 
that  Americans  need  scarcely  to  study  the  paintings,  inas- 
much  as  they  have  been  well  digested  by  all  of  us  in  black 
and  white,  and  we  are  therefore  the  better  prepared  to 
enjoy  them  in  colors. 

The  next  room  brought  us  into  the  Turner  Gallery. 
Who  has  not  seen  an  ideal  fade  as  in  old  times  those  magic 
pictures  of  Dagucrre  would  change  from  the  brilliancy  of 
lighted  altars  and  glowing  arches,  to  the  sombre  twilight 
shadows  and  darkness  of  departing  day  ?  At  last  I  stood 
face  to  face  with  a  genuine  Turner — yes,  with  a  hundred  of 
them.     Some  were  by  Turner's  own  desire  placed  side  by 


246  MES.   MOUSE  stewart. 

side  with  two  noble  Claudes.  Thej  differed  so,  one  being  so 
utterly  unlike  another,  that  I  became  rather  unsettled  in  my 
mind.  Both  were  new  to  me.  It  was  all  a  flash  of  color  and 
a  blaze  of  wonderful  things.  And  so  I  wandered  around  the 
room  till  by  some  inexplicable  fascination  I  seated  myself 
before  a  very  remarkable  picture  painted  from  Turner's 
conception  of  that  most  wonderful  word-picture  :  "  And  it 
came  to  pass  that  at  midnight  the  Lord  smote  all  the  first 
born  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  first  born  of  Pharaoh 
that  sat  on  his  throne  unto  the  first  born  of  the  captive  that 
was  in  the  dungeon,  and  all  the  first  born  of  cattle."  The 
power,  the  pathos,  the  judgment,  aye,  even  the  mercy  of 
God,  was  manifest  in  this  great  and  awful  dawn  ;  and  I 
contented  myself  with  drinking  in  the  awe  and  mystery  as 
well  as  power  and  majesty  of  this  Eastern  scene.  After  an 
hour  or  two  I  rose  up  and  departed,  a  sadder  and  a  wiser 
woman  ;  and  here,  weeks  afterwards,  I  record  my  convic- 
tion, that  not  all  the  brilliant  effect  of  his  most  showy 
paintings,  not  all  the  more  spotty  blues,  and  greens,  and  yel- 
lows, of  his  various  approaches  to  Venice,  could  satisfy  my 
heart  as  did  those  two  Claude  Lorraines,  and  this  one  weird 
showing  of  how  the  Lord  God  had  subdued  the  will  of  that 
Pharaoh  from  whom  Moses  and  his  people  endured  so 
much.  I  may  as  well  tell  you  here  that  over  and  over  again 
I  went  back  to  this  room  and  tried  to  make  myself  entirely 
satisfied  with  Turner.  His  work  fascinated  me,  but  it  was 
more  as  a  lurid  light,  or  pyrotechnic  display  would  always 
hold  me  spell-bound  till  Fourth  of  July  was  over,  and  then 
left  my  eyes  and  heart  as  empty  as  if  they  had  been  fed  on 
the  east  wind. 

Claude  Lorraine's  and  Salvator  Rosa's  pictures  stay  with 
me  yet;  but  Turner's  have  vanished,  save  this  one  odd 
Eastern  scene.    Evidently  he  possessed  extraordinary  power, 


LETTERS   FROJE   ABROAD.  247 

but  in  his  heart  of  hearts  lie  must  have  lacked  some  great 
essential  element  in  his  work.  It  is  not  fashionable  to  say 
this,  neither  is  it  what  I  wished  to  think  and  believe,  but  as 
far  as  I  know  it,  I  feel  that  it  is  the  truth  of  my  own  indi- 
vidual convictions. 

The  disenchantment  was  very  bitter — perhaps  intensified 
l)ecause  I  had  looked  forward  with  so  much  anticipation  to 
the  sight  of  this  room,  where  I  expected  him  to  come  out 
triumphantly  superior  to  Claude  Lorraine  or  any  other  artist 
of  the  past,  Turner  being  almost  of  the  present. 

Sunday. — We  went  exactly  where  I  had  not  intended  to 
go.  Every  time  I  had  seen  the  photographs  of  "  Spurgeon," 
such  hideous  looking  things  as  they  were,  I  had  mentally 
vowed  I  would  never  listen  to  that  man.  Every  time  I  had 
read  some  rough  exaggeration  of  his  pulpit  eloquence  it 
clinched  my  dislike  to  Spurgeon  !  —  always  "  Spurgeon  "  in 
the  newspapers,  and  yet  we  all  set  out  "  to  hear  Spurgeon," 
as  if  he  had  been  Edwin  Booth  or  any  other  stage  character. 
In  my  own  case  it  was  not  curiosity  to  see  or  hear,  but  the 
acceptance  of  my  pastor's  recommendation  to  hear  him  that 
I  might  do  him  justice.  I  meant  to  do  him  justice  by 
giving  him  no  quarter  if  there  was  anything  short  of  a  pure 
and  simple  gospel  in  what  he  said.  Our  instructions  were : 
"  Take  the  tramway  to  the  Elephant  and  Ca-a-stle,  and  when 
you  get  tha-a-ar,  you  will  know  right  away  where  you  are." 
And  tiiey  were  admirable,  for  as  soon  as  we  reached  that 
celebrated  drinking  hole,  we  saw  a  tremendous  stream  of 
people  setting  in  one  direction,  and  we  followed  them.  In 
two  minutes  we  were  in  sight  of  this  immense  church, 
which  externally  and  internally  struck  me  as  being  a  cross 
between  Brigham  Young's  tabernacle  and  an  opera  house. 
Hundreds  of  persons  were  gathered  on  the  outside  waiting 
for  the  opening  of  the  church  doors.     A  nice,  comfortable 

22 


248  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

lady  asked  us  if  we  bad  tickets.  I  meekly  replied,  "  No ! 
we  did  not  provide  ourselves  with  them."  Tickets !  to  go 
to  church  with.  It  was  only  of  a  piece  with  all  I  had 
believed  of  Spurgeon  as  a  sensationalist.  "  In  that  case  I 
will  take  your  party  in  with  me ;  it  is  the  custom  of  the 
church  members  to  enter  by  this  lower  side  door.  Two 
minutes  before  the  time  for  service  to  begin,  every  member 
of  the  church  is  expected  to  be  in  his  or  her  place,  then  the 
main  doors  are  thrown  open  to  the  general  public." 

She  was  certainly  kind,  but  I  did  not  approve  of  her 
church  ways ;  however,  when  once  in  and  seated  in  this 
beehive  of  a  house,  where  the  preacher  spoke  from  a  queer, 
undignified  platform  in  almost  the  center  of  the  church,  I 
began  to  take  an  interest  in  the  thousand  people  who  had 
not  been  smuggled  in  as  we  were.  All  in  good  time  they 
came  in  with  a  rush,  and  in  five  minutes  were  duly  seated 
in  all  sorts  of  extemporaneous  corners,  in  pews  and  out  of 
them.  Then  the  great  man  of  the  church,  the  leader,  the 
organizer,  come  forward.  My  dear,  he  is  not  good  looking, 
but  I  am  pretty  short  sighted,  and  so  his  appearance  did  not 
trouble  me  as  much  as  I  expected.  Dr.  S.  said  he  was 
fairly  well  looking.  His  voice  struck  me  as  being  husky 
and  unsatisfactory,  but  all  the  party  declared  there  was  no 
fault  to  be  found  with  his  voice.  The  vast  congregation 
settled  and  quieted,  and  became  attentive.  Ah,  what  an 
earnest  and  searching  and  beautiful  prayer — not  fluent,  but 
slow ;  step  by  step  he  led  this  vast  congregation  to  the 
mercy  seat.  Then  a  hymn  sung  by  at  least  five  thousand 
people;  then  a  sermon  that  was  well  throughout,  but  deliv- 
ered without  notes. 

The  power  and  popularity  of  this  man  is  a  mystery  to 
me,  for  his  is  the  simplest  form  of  speech  ;  there  is  rare 
beauty  of  expression  and  thought,  but  one  has  to  listen  very 


LETTERS   FROM   ABROAD.  249 

attentively  to  hear  him,  especially  in  a  London  congrega- 
tion where  everyone  coughs  as  if  he  or  she  had  an  old  fash- 
ioned consumption.  It  seemed  to  me  as  I  looked  over  the 
vast  audience,  all  evidently  the  plainer  class  of  people, 
well-to-do,  but  withal  quite  different  from  the  same  persons 
in  the  United  States,  that  it  was  because  they  were  willing 
and  anxious  to  hear  a  siminle  gospel  of  duty.  He  spoke 
like  a  master  to  his  pupils,  and  they  heard  him  gladly. 
There  is  the  stirring  of  a  mighty  impulse  to  make  one's 
every  day  life  square  with  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures ; 
the  commandments  are  the  law  of  God,  and  there  is  a 
growing  distrust  of  a  religion  of  sentiment,  which  is  not  a 
religion  of  practice.  The  seventh  commandment  means 
exactly  what  it  says,  though  I  suppose  there  always  will  be 
a  few  fools  who  (as  D.  B.  D.  said  years  ago  of  the  revivalist 
MafRtt) 

"Adored  the  priest  and  thought  they  worshiped  God." 

But  a  minister  with  good  sense  and  good  principles 
knows  how  to  suppress  this  sort  of  thing.  I  have  very 
seldom  in  my  life  met  one  where  both  these  qualifications 
were  kicking,  and  I  came  home  thinking  how  crude  are 
one's  views  formed  from  newspaper  reports. 

I  was  tired  after  the  walk  of  the  morning,  but  when 
evening  came  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  would  enjo}'  a  service 
in  "Westminster  Abbey,  and  the  willing  Doctor  and  J.  set  off 
with  me.  It  was  with  a  solemn,  mysterious  awe  that  I  first 
entered  that  fane  where  are  garnered  so  many  of  the  great 
ones  of  the  earth.  From  a  child  Westminster  Abbey  was  a 
spot  of  all  others  which  my  imagination  had  sought  unto, 
and  I  was  to  stand  within  its  arches. 

Entering  the  east  nave,  we  saw  a  congregation  already 
gathering.  Evening  was  beginning  to  fall.  No  artificial 
light  was    as  yet   ilhiminating  the  space   under  the  great 


250  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

groined  windows  and  arching  roof.  Each  pillar  cast  its 
own  lengthening  shadow ;  the  church  was  dark  with  a  tan- 
gible decay  ;  the  stone  floor  cold  and  sweating  with  the 
exhalations  of  dead  heroes  ;  the  seats  ? — well,  the  less  said 
about  them  the  better — crooked,  ill  made,  dilapidated  old 
chairs  that  stood  in  lines.  J.  was  indignant  —  "  they  were 
horrid.  At  Lake  Superior  in  a  log  shanty  she  had  seen  far 
better  used  for  the  worship  of  God." 

Large  numbers  of  people  now  began  to  gather  in  ;  again 
they  were  the  common  people,  the  plain  "middle  classes"  — 
some  were  not  even  clean.  While  we  were  waiting,  I 
picked  up  a  leaflet  lying  upon  one  of  the  chairs,  and  as  I 
read  I  wondered  if  I  were  awake.  Of  all  the  wonderful 
things  !  —  surely  I  must  be  dreaming  ! !  —  but  there  it 
■was!!! — a  call  earnest  and  faithful,  committing  all  the 
established  Church  of  England,  to  what  ?  To  Temperance  f 
]S"o,  better  than  that— to  Total  Abstinence.  And  here  were 
the  names  of  all  the  greatest  dignitaries  of  the  three  orders 
signed,  and  the  12th  and  last  point  in  the  selection  of  means 
and  methods  to  advance  the  cause  of  total  abstinence  was 
"a  dependence  upon  prayer  to  God  for  His  blessing,  and 
recommending  meetings  for  jprayer^ 

I  sat  in  a  daze  and  heard  the  prayers  intoned,  and  the 
service  generally  shrieked  and  squeaked  and  chanted  by  all 
kinds  of  singers.  The  great  organ  at  last  pealed  forth  its 
iubihite  like  a  living  thing,  and  did  seem  such  a  superior 
instrument  to  the  human  voice  which  flatted  off  the  prayers 
of  God,  that  I  thought  the  worship  would  be  performed 
with  more  dignity  by  an  instrument  of  that  cast  than 
an  actual  vox  Jmmana.  At  length  up  into  the  little 
pepper-box  of  a  pulpit  came  a  fair,  open-faced,  fine  looking 
man,  who  did  the  bravest  thing  a  man  could  do;  he 
acknowledged  his  sin  and  the  sin  of  his  cliurch  in  their 


LETTERS   FROM   ABROAD.  251 

careless,    selfish   neglect  of    the   practice   and   precept   of 
abstaining  from  that  which  would  cause  a  brother  to  err. 

Oh,  Mary,  such  a  temperance  sermon  I  never  heard  ;  his 
taste  was  faultless,  and  yet  his  truths  were  something  tre- 
mendous. I  know  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  reproduce 
them  ;  but  he  said,  with  shamefacedness  and  a  genuine 
humilit}'  tliat  will  make  his  words  heard  in  the  Court  of 
Heaven,  that  thej'^,  i.  e.,  himself  and  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, "  had  let  this  evil  grow  because  no  one  desired  to  trench 
on  the  liberty  of  action  of  good  men,  and  dictate  to 
them  how  much  or  how  little  wine  they  might  be  trusted 
with,  until  this  subtle  agent  of  the  arch  enemy,  with  its 
swift  and  deadly  virus,  had  poisoned  the  entire  nation."  If 
only  those  few  women  all  over  Michigan,  Ohio  and  New 
York,  who  had  prayed  day  by  day,  and  night  by  night, 
could  have  heard  this  man  stand  there  and  say  that  he,  in 
this  AVestminster  Abbey,  was  authorized  to  pledge  the 
liighest  honors  in  the  Church  of  England  to  the  principles 
and  practice  of  total  abstaining,  they  would  have  known 
more  surely  than  ever  that  the  God  of  Elijah  heard  and 
answered  at  this  day ;  and  they  too,  would,  like  Elijah  of 
old,  have  seen  the  i-ising  of  the  little  cloud  not  larger  than  a 
man's  hand,  where  they  had  least  looked  for  it.  What  a 
pean  of  thanksgiving  would  have  risen  from  those  poor 
souls  who  had  come  out  for  the  cause  in  its  darkest  da3's,  in 
the  very  front  of  tacit  opposition  from  fathers,  brothers, 
husbands — aye,  and  pastors  even ;  and  who  had  patiently, 
and  with  that  steady  persistence  which  is  power,  gained 
even  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  an  inch!  As  for  myself,  I 
sat  trembling  and  afraid,  and  for  the  second  time  in  my  life 
recalled  with  a  personal  application  our  Saviour's  blessing 
upon  obedient  faith  ;  for  more  than  once,  like  that  head- 
long apostle,  I  have  ])ecn   prone  to  sa}^  "Master,  we  liave 


252  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

toiled  all  the  night  and  have  taken  nothing."  And  now, 
when  the  promise  of  this  mighty  draught  was  before  my 
eyes,  M^hen  my  willing  hands  would  gladly  have  lent  their 
slender  strength  to  aid  the  drawing  of  the  seine,  I  could 
only  sit  trembling  at  the  faithlessness  of  my  own  heart,  and 
cry  out  as  of  old  did  Peter :  "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a 
sinful  man,  O  Lord  !  " 

The  preacher  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wilberforce,  a  son  of 
the  old  Bishop  of  Winchester,  but  very  unlike  what  I  had 
been  led  to  believe  that  gentleman  to  be,  for  he  was  a  ser- 
monizer  (judging  from  this  effort)  of  very  great  taste,  tact 
and  power.  His  voice  was  faultless  in  tone  and  emphasis, 
and  he  was  not  in  the  least  English — that  is  to  say,  his  pro- 
nunciation was  pure,  perfect,  and  as  fine  as  one  sometimes 
hears  in  the  United  States.  I  made  some  effort  to  get  this 
sermon,  but  as  yet  it  is  not  published  by  authority,  and  the 
London  papers  did  not  even  make  a  mention  of  it.  Jour- 
nalism is  so  different  on  this  side ;  they  fill  their  papers 
with  the  veriest  bosh,  calculated  to  stultify  the  intellect, 
unless  one  had  a  decided  taste  for  murder,  and  in  that  case 
the  stultification  would  be  of  the  moral  perceptions.  The 
religious  intelligence  which  is  a  standard  column  in  all 
American  newspapers,  is  the  recognition  of  a  popular 
demand,  but  in  England  the  routine  of  established  usage 
never  yields  to  any  combined  want  of  the  populace.  If  the 
Earl  of  Stupid,  or  Lord  Dunderhead,  make  a  speech  or  give 
a  dinner,  and  the  Lord  and  Lady  Knownothing  and  the 
Dowager  Duchess  of  Dunceland  are  present,  it  is  a  good 
half  column,  and  as  these  distinguished  people  are  on  the 
top  of  the  wave,  and  make  speeches  and  give  dinners  ad 
libitum,  it  renders  the  English  journals  intensely  interesting 
and  instructive. 

I  have  since  learned  that  the  father  of  Mr.  Wilberforce, 


LETTERS   FROM   ABROAD.  253 

the  old  Bishop  of  "Winchester,  was  far  from  holding  extreme 
views  on  this  temperance  question,  but  an  intimate  friend 
of  his  had  been  led  to  consider  it  as  only  to  be  forwarded 
by  total  abstinence,  and  failing  to  convert  the  father,  he  had 
contented  himself  with  bringing  his  arguments  to  bear  upon 
the  son.  And  thus  the  very  man  whom  the  old  Bishop  had 
"  made  a  guy  of,"  and  whom  he  never  spared  a  joke  upon, 
had  led  his  own  son  to  come  forward  as  a  standard  bearer 
of  this  great  cause  in  a  reluctant  church,  so  that  what  glory 
had  come  to  him  from  his  descent,  he  had  used  to  further  a 
reform  so  necessary  in  this  English  nation,  "  I  wonder  the 
old  Bishop  does  not  turn  in  his  grave,"  is  what  the  popular 
voice  says;  but  if  he  was  "a  just  man  made  perfect,"  his 
soul  has  seen,  and  rejoiced  in,  the  clearer  light  that  shone 
upon  his  son's  path  of  duty,  than  ever  illuminated  his  own. 
Oh,  Mary,  every  day  of  my  life  in  this  foreign  land  leads 
me  to  the  conviction  that  the  strength,  and  power,  and 
greatness  of  the  English  race  on  All)ion'8  shore  has  been 
sapped  of  its  foundation  by  this  hideous  habit  of  drink. 
Pray  God,  that  we  Americans  may  awake  to  our  danger  in 
time,  England's  greatness  is  of  the  past;  she  holds,  of 
course,  a  certain  commercial  power,  but  to-day  this  is  her 
breath  of  life.  The  old  blood  of  her  nobility  has  about  run 
out  She  is  a  nation  of  flunkies,  remindins:  me  constantlv 
of  the  keen  satire  of  Byron,  who  wrote  for  the  collar  of  an 
Earl's  pug — 

"  I  am  his  Highness'  dog  of  Kew  ; 
Pray  tell  me,  sir,  whose  dog  are  you?" 

And  the  greatest  leaders  the  nation  knows  this  day,  are 
the  two  men  who  have  refused  to  be  made  peers, 

I.  G.  D.  S. 


254  MRS.  MORSE   STEWART. 

KissiNGEN,  June  30,  1875. 

Dear  Mary — If  I  were  to  tell  you  all  the  wonderful 
sights  I  saw  in  London,  you  would  grow  uncommonly  tired 
of  the  story.  To  describe  the  South  Kensington  Museum 
might  take  a  week,  and  be  thoroughly  unsatisfactory  in  the 
end  ;  to  go  into  the  Zoological  gardens  and  give  you  any 
idea  of  the  way  the  hippopotami  roll  around  in  their  huge 
puddles,  and  eat  the  crackers  and  bread  bestowed  upon 
them  by  the  sight-seers,  or  do  justice  to  the  birds  and  mon- 
keys, the  lions  and  bears,  the  anacondas  and  reptiles ;  or 
last  of  all,  expatiate  on  the  giraffes  (with  whom  I  always 
had  a  sympathy),  camels,  elephants,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  would 
take  another  month  ;  we  will  pass  one  day,  however,  with 
them. 

While  the  rest  of  the  party  went  to  the  British  Museum, 
I  betook  myself  through  that  portion  of  London  which 
Dickens  describes  with  such  minute  faithfulness  in  Bleak 
House.  ISTo  guide  book  could  have  made  me  know  my 
whereabouts  one-half  so  well.  From  thence  to  see  the 
Deaconesses'  House,  Islington.  Some  time  when  I  have 
thoroughly  thought  out  their  work,  and  an  improvement  on 
it  for  the  needs  of  the  United  States,  I  will  reduce  all  to 
writing,  and  you  shall  have  the  benefit  of  it.  But  it  is 
not  well  to  handle  hastily  subjects  of  this  sort. 

The  next  day  it  was  pictures  again.  "  The  Eoyal  Acad- 
emv  !  "  Oh  !  such  washed-out  things  as  covered  its  walls. 
The  portraits  were  the  weakest  milk-and-water  productions, 
and,  except  that  of  a  boy  of  twelve,  and  what  must  have 
been  a  bright  likeness  of  Robert  Browning,  I  saw  nothing  in 
them  that  was  to  be  compared  with  some  of  Mr.  Lewis  Ives' 
that  have  hung  in  Smith's  window — for  instance,  that  head 
of  Mr.  Stanley,  or  his  portrait  of  Jacob  M.  Howard.     I  do 


LETTEES   FROM   ABROAD  255 

not  know  how  it  is ;  these  men  "  grind  awfully,"  as  they 
say  here — that  is  to  say,  they  stud}'^  and  work,  and  take 
pains  enough  to  overturn  all  precedents,  but  by  the  time 
they  are  Royal  Academicians  there  is  not  spontaneity 
enough  left  to  produce  anything  worth  remembering. 
They  are  very  sharp  on  Dore,  whose  largest  pictures  they 
criticise  with  a  certain  amount  of  truth,  but  they  could  not 
come  anywhere  near  him,  and  they  know  it.  Indeed,  his 
Gallery  had  some  very  wonderful  things  in  it.  Tiie  Dream 
of  Pilate's  Wife  was  so  truly  a  dream  that  I  recall  it  with 
accuracy ;  and  his  Christ  in  the  Pretorium  was  a  picture  of 
great  power.  Dore,  Frenchman  as  he  is,  has  expressed  in 
the  Christ  in  each  picture,  a  Saviour — a  ')nan  of  sorrow, 
and  acquainted  with  grief,  but  a  being  who  is  not  of  the 
earth  earthy.  As  He  looks  upon  the  wife  of  Pilate,  there 
is  that  in  the  face  that  recalls  the  question  of  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees :  "  Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God  alone  ? " 

Poor  Dore  is  said  to  be  such  a  disappointed,  sour  and 
bitter  man.  His  intellectual  conception  of  Christ  is  by  far 
the  finest  of  them  all,  and  the  figure  and  face  seems  to  me 
so  clear  an  expression  of  Christ  as  God,  that  sooner  or  later 
I  hope  to  hear  that  his  heart  as  well  as  his  mind  acknowl- 
edges His  mercy.  Think  how  he  must  have  studied  on  the 
attributes  of  that  ideal,  before  he  could  have  expressed 
them  with  such  faithful  power. 

On  Sabbath  we  went  to  hear  Dr.  Cummings.  My  ears 
are  wonderfully  sharp,  therefore  I  heard  him,  but  I  fancy 
no  one  else  did.  His  sermon  was  an  exhortation,  but  for 
all  practical  purposes  it  might  better  have  been  expressed 
in  pantomime.  Oh,  such  a  poky  old  church  as  it  is.  Here, 
they  tell  me,  great  numbers  of  the  aristocracy  attend.  They 
may  have  been  present,  but  1  saw  no  person  who,  by  face 
or  bearing,  expressed  ray  ideas  of  the  result  of  long  cultiva- 


256  MRS.  MORSE   STEWART. 

tion.  A  number  of  coroneted  coaches  drove  away  from  the 
church  door  after  service,  but  in  them  I  saw  only  the  aver- 
age face  and  expression.  At  last  I  begin  to  understand 
why,  at  the  court  of  St.  James,  they  always  admired  Mr. 
Dallas,  Mr.  Buchanan,  Mr.  Fillmore,  etc.,  for  I  see  no  such 
men  either  driving  to  Parliament  or  in  Hyde  Park.  They 
were  Natures  noblemen. 

We  were  to  have  left  London  Monday  morning,  but  were 
urged  not  to  do  so,  because  it  was  Whit-Monday,  a  lioliday 
which  closes  all  the  offices,  stores  and  banks,  and  on  which 
all  London  goes  out  of  town,  and  all  the  country  pours  into 
it.  J.  concluded  to  take  the  young  people  and  go  with 
them  to  the  Crystal  Palace,  where  the  fountains  were  to 
play,  and  there  were  to  be  several  exhibitions.  Our  good 
landlady  recommended  me  not  to  go  to  any  place  of  the 
kind  with  the  children,  as  the  London  crowds  were  prover- 
bially rude  and  rough.  I  therefore  betook  myself  to  the 
Strand  and  Whitehall,  and  watched  the  populace  going 
hither  and  thither.  Some  of  the  sights  haunt  me  yet. 
Truly,  "a  holiday  of  miserable  men  is  sadder  than  the 
burial  day  of  kings." 

I  could  not  become  accustomed  to  it,  and  over  and  over 
again  the  refrain  of  the  last  offertory  that  I  heard  our 
friend  Mr.  Carter  sing,  came  back  to  me : 

"  Turn  not  your  face  away  from  any  poor  man." 

Oh !  if  all  London  worked  their  fingers  to  the  bone  for 
her  poor,  they  could  do  nothing!  —  absolutely  nothing,  so 
long  as  the  gin  shops  can  keep  them  where  they  are.  And 
yet  all  the  poor  do  not  drink.  I  saw,  for  instance,  one 
family  going  pleasuring ;  the  man  had  a  rickety  old  hand- 
cart, so  frail  that  I  wondered  how  it  kept  together,  and  in 
it  were  three  little  children — the  youngest,  of  perhaps  three 
years,  was  so  thin  and  gaunt  and  small,  that  she  was  no 


LETTERS   FROM    ABROAD.  257 

larger  than  a  delicate  baby  ten  months  old ;  the  next  oldest 
was  five  years,  and  she  was  the  size  of  one  a  year  and  a-half ; 
while  the  oldest,  six  years,  did  not  weigh  over  twenty-four 
pounds. 

Oh !  such  little,  little  things,  so  gaunt,  and  starved,  and 
pale.  Over  them  was  tucked  some  old  bagging,  such  as 
comes  over  cotton  bales.  They  were  as  clean  as  London 
water,  soot  and  weather  would  permit,  and  were  clothed 
after  some  sort  of  a  fashion  out  of  the  rags  from  a  dust 
heap.  There  was  a  little  attempt  at  making  them  fine, 
too,  for  the  mother  and  eldest  girl  were  walking  on  the 
pavement,  while  the  poor  man  carefully  pushed  forward  his 
frail  cart,  and  would  look  from  time  to  time  at  them  and 
chirrup  and  smile  in  a  way  that  would  make  your  heart 
bleed.  At  last  the  wind  from  the  Thames  blew  a  feather 
in  the  little  one's  hat  out  of  place,  and  the  girl  rushed  into 
the  road,  set  it  straight,  and  patted  the  poor  pallid  cheek. 
Oh,  Mary,  if  you  could  have  seen  that  feather.  It  looked 
as  if  it  had  come  from  some  worn-out  old  duster,  so  mangy, 
so  forlorn,  so  wretched  was  it  all.  They  seemed  like  a 
family  who  were  almost  '"'  clemed "  to  death.  That  word 
clemed  has  no  place  in  Worcester  or  Walker — it  is  a  coinage 
of  the  poorest  class,  and  means  kept  on  such  a  small  allow- 
ance of  food  that  they  suffer  gradual  starvation.  But 
though  it  may  not  be  admitted  into  the  language,  the  fact 
is  none  the  less  real,  and  these  poor  wretches  express  it 
by  the  words  "  clemed  to  death."  I  followed  them  far  with 
eyes  and  heart,  and  longed  to  have  those  weak,  pallid  little 
things  in  Jennie  B.'s  hands.  She  would  have  fed  them, 
and  clothed  them,  and  placed  them  "  with  the  nicest  peo- 
ple in  Michigan,"  and  taken  such  solid  comfort  out  of  it  as 
would  have  strengthened  hcj"  to  endure  for  the  seventy  and 


258  MRS.  MORSE   STEWART. 

seventh  time  those  trying  casuals  that  one  cannot  cure  and 
so  must  endure,  in  jour  own  Home  of  tlie  Friendless. 

In  the  evening,  J.  came  liome  with  our  young  people. 
What  a  time  they  had.  Every  one  of  them  had  been 
shocked  and  startled  by  the  crowd — 50,000! !  at  the  Palace. 
They  had  seen  a  man  in  the  depot  give  his  wife  a  blow  in 
the  mouth  that  made  her  an  object  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 
It  was  a  merciful  Providence  that  this  American  family  did 
not  interfere  (as  they  were  evidently  inclined  to),  but  in  the 
course  of  the  ten  minutes'  ride  this  harmonious  couple 
patched  up  their  difficulty,  and  went  off  arm  in  arm. 

In  short,  we  had  all  seen  enough  of  London,  and  longed 
to  get  out  of  it,  which  we  accomplished  the  next  morning 
by  eight  o'clock.  Eleven  a.  m,  reached  Dover,  where  we 
took  the  Dover  and  Calais  boat,  reaching  the  latter  place  at 
twelve  M.,  and  having  been  just  sixty  minutes  crossing  the 
channel.  It  was  a  bright  and  beautiful  passage,  but  I  was 
glad  it  lasted  no  longer,  for  I  was  beginning  to  grow  lunset- 
tled.  Here,  all  in  an  instant,  we  found  ourselves  in  a  for- 
eign country,  and  at  the  ticket  office,  "  no  English  need 
apply."  Dr.  S.  said,  "  Come,  explain  to  these  people— I 
need  two  half-tickets  for  the  children."  Knowing  how 
futile  it  was  to  study  up  a  sentence,  and  then  try  to  say 
it,  I  concluded  I  would  take  no  thought,  but  wait  for  the 
inspiration  of  necessity.  It  was  just  the  luckiest  decis- 
ion I  ever  came  to,  for  if  I  had  tried  to  recall  what  "  tick- 
ets," and  "  fare,"  and  "  half-price  "  were  in  French,  I  never 
should  have  done  it  in  the  world.  As  it  was,  I  walked  up 
to  the  ticket  man  and  said  it  all  as  quick  as  lightning,  and 
as  straight  as  possible  the  man  gave  me  my  tickets  and 
change,  and  the  agony  was  over.  I  had  no  difficulty  hence- 
forth with  the-  French  language — it  spoke  itself. 

From  Calais  the  country  was  low  and  fiat,  but  fresh  and 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  259 

green.  Hundreds  of  windmills  spread  their  stiff  arms  to 
the  wind,  and  the  peasants  were  toiling  at  their  spring  sow- 
ing. Our  party  just  filled  a  compartment,  and  we  sailed 
along  very  comfortably  until  we  reached  the  boundary  line 
between  France  and  Belgium.  Here  we,  oblivious  to  the 
important  point  in  our  journey,  suddenly  found  the  lan- 
guage take  a  change.  A  man  in  semi-official  dress  of  some 
sort  presented  himself  at  the  window,  and  made  a  series  of 
remarks.  They  were  neither  French  nor  English,  and  we 
very  naturally  and  correctly  concluded  that  they  must  be 
some  sort  of  German.  As  B.  had  been  studying  that  lan- 
guage for  three !  months,  the  whole  family  turned  upon 
her  and  demanded,  "What  does  he  say?"  Unfortunate 
child,  slie  could  not  even  guess,  and  her  indignant  brethren 
said,  with  marked  contempt,  "  O !  I  thought  you  knew 
something  of  German."  She  had  never  made  the  slightest 
pretensions,  but  what  little  knowledge  she  really  possessed 
vanished  like  "the  baseless  fabric  of  a  dream  "  before  such 
sharp  criticism.  A  second  time  did  the  semi-official  come 
and  fire  the  same  Dutch  volley  of  incomprehensible  sounds. 
He  was  red  in  the  face  and  looked  indis-nant,  so  fearino- 
trouble,  the  Doctor  and  I  went  out  to  capture  a  Frenchman. 
It  did  not  take  long,  and  he  was  so  polite  and  pleasant,  and 
made  such  a  trifle  of  the  fact  that  it  was  "  only  the  Douane," 
that  it  was  "  nothing,"  that  if  I  had  nothing  but  my  hand- 
baggage  I  need  not  trou])le  myself ;  the  trunks  would  be 
examined  at  Cologne,  etc.  But  we  returned  to  find  our 
compartment  swept  and  garnished.  Neither  children, 
friends  or  baggage  anywhere  in  sight.  "We  afterwards  dis- 
covered them  all— family  and  hand-bags,  in  a  higli  state  of 
disorder.  The  unfortunate  man  who  found  fair  words  in 
the  German  tongue,  of  no  avail,  liad  come  a  third  time,  in 
the  last  stages  of  exasperation,  and  having  uttered  a  series 


•260  MRS.  MORSE   STEWART. 

of  emphatic  sounds,  seized  a  boy  and  a  bag,  a  girl  and  a 
shawl,  and  dragged  them  into  the  custom  officer's  room. 
There,  by  dint  of  waiting  impatiently  for  half  an  hour  for 
nothing,  the}''  got  themselves  and  their  hand-bags  released. 

There  did  not  seem  to  be  any  marked  difference  between 
the  scenery  in  the  little  strip  of  France  through  which  we 
ran,  and  the  longer  stretch  in  Belgium,  as  far  as  Brussels, 
all  being  a  rather  low,  flat  country,  green  but  not  fer- 
tile. Between  five  and  six  o'clock  p.  m.  we  were  in  Brussels, 
that  second  Paris — a  city  that,  to  every  woman's  mind, 
recalls  the  earliest  and  the  latest  dream  of  lace.  But  we 
were  too  tired  to  care  anything  for  finery  of  any  descrip- 
tion, and  longed  to  press  forward  to  that  "settled  home" 
we  hoped  to  find  in  Germany.  The  next  day,  however,  we 
drove  about  and  saw  the  principal  points  of  interest.  Went 
to  the  market,  where  we  bought  oranges,  lemons  and  straw- 
berries; thence  to  the  Wirtz  Gallery,  where  we  found  some 
very  strange,  and,  in  some  respects,  interesting  pictures,  but 
what  genius  the  poor  man  had  possessed  was  erratic  to  an 
uncomfortable  degree.  We  were  most  pleasantly  impressed 
with  Brussels ;  the  place  itself  really  undid  the  impression 
that  Charlotte  Bronte  had  given  of  it  in  "  The  Professor." 
Still  I  can  believe  it  capable  of  being  anything  but  a 
charming  spot,  unless  all  other  things  were  equal. 

I  had  a  number  of  wants.  For  instance,  I  wanted  to  go 
to  Diisseldorf,  and  from  thence  to  the  great  "  Kaiserwerk," 
that  was  the  origin  of  the  cottage  system  of  charity  in  Ger- 
many and  throughout  the  world ;  but  as  is  usual  with  my 
philanthropy,  it  had  to  stand  aside  and  wait  till  I  had  ful- 
filled certain  duties  to  a  hnsband  and  five  children  ! !  What 
could  I  do  with  them  at  Kaiserwerk  ?  So  I  gave  it  up  for 
the  present,  and  did  eight  hours'  traveling  straight  through 
to  Cologne,  where  we  staid  all  night.     In  the  morning  saw 


LETTERS   FROM   ABROAD.  261 

the  old  Cathedral,  etc.,  but  as  it  is  not  a  sweet-scented  city, 
Bjron  Iiaving  characterized  it  as 

"  The  bodyand-soul-sticking  town  of  Cologne," 

we  concluded  to  take  the  boat  up  the  Rhine  —  "the  Amer- 
ican steamer,"  as  it  was  called — and  truly  it  was  the  most 
delightful  of  boats,  all  brass  and  black  walnut.  For  about 
fifteen  miles  from  Cologne,  the  river  and  the  country  did 
not  strike  me  as  being  anything  extraordinary,  but  from  the 
moment  we  reached  Bonn  it  was  one  fleeting  panorama  of 
beauty.  If  I  could  have  had  my  own  way,  I  would  have 
sailed  back  the  next  day,  and  on  the  third  taken  the  trip 
by  easy  stages,  spending  a  week  among  its  old  castles,  read- 
ing up  its  histories  and  its  legends,  and  posting  my  memory, 
which  seemed  to  be  a  tangled  knot  of  odds  and  ends,  of 
facts  and  fiction,  Bulwer's  Pilgrims  of  the  Rhine,  Schiller's 
ballads,  Roman  history,  D'Aubigne's  Reformation,  Charle- 
magne and  Martin  Luther,  Longfellow  and  Goethe,  till  I 
did  not  know  which  came  first  and  which  last.  I  wonder  if 
my  historic  reading  is  worse  and  more  scrappy  than  any 
one's  else. 

There  is  an  old  chart  of  the  Stream  of  Time  that  hangs 
in  my  library  at  home.  If  ever  I  get  to  that  sacred  spot 
again,  I  will  clinch  the  centuries  in  my  head  as  if  they  were 
so  many  German  irregular  verbs.  There  is  no  use  in  my 
trying  to  tell  you  how  these  great  hills  and  this  broad  and 
beautiful  river  looked,  for  the  Rhine  is  a  clear  case  of  the 
illustration  of  that  proverb,  "seeing  is  believing."  As  we 
stopped  at  Ehrenbreitstein,  I  recalled  Bethune's  description 
of  it  years  ago.  But  fortresses  and  castles  do  not  inspire 
me  with  new  powers.  In  natural  characteristics  and  outline, 
it  was  a  strange  combination  of  the  Hudson  River  and  the 
upper  Mississippi,  if  you  can  fancy  those  great  water  courses 
with  hillsides  covered  with  vines,  and  bristling  with  castles 


262  MES.  MORSE   STEWART. 

and  fortresses,  about  every  one  of  which  hirked  historic 
interests  tliat  would  have  deepened  and  intensified  their 
power,  coukl  I  but  have  sorted  out  and  applied  the  knowl- 
edo-e  I  really  had.  J.  was  more  fortunate  in  this  respect, 
and  recounted  many  legends  for  our  benefit.  Many 
points  were  strangely  familiar  to  me,  probably  owing  to 
the  fact  that  so  many  fine  points  of  view  had  been  used 
by  the  photographer  or  traveling  artist.  And  the  pictures 
thus  produced  left  very  correct  impressions.  It  was  a 
fresh,  clear,  brilliant  spring  day,  and  there  was  a  pretty 
strong  wand  sweeping  us  through  the  gorges.  Thanks  to 
steam,  it  did  not  impede  our  progress ;  though  poor  J. 
(yrew  so  chilled  she  w^as  obliged  to  seat  herself  where  she 
could  be  protected  by  glass.  But  it  was  the  finest  of 
French  plate,  and  only  made  the  river  look  more  of  a  pic- 
ture than  ever.  About  eleven  a.  m.  a  waiter  came  to  me 
and  asked  if  I  would  take  Hdble-d'MteP  I  had  long 
before  decided  to  take  unhesitatingly  pretty  much  what 
offered,  but  whether  it  would  prove  a  dinner  or  simply  a 
ceremony,  I  could  not  tell.  In  the  end  it  turned  out  a 
cross  between  the  two.  TaUe-Wlwte  is  what  we  usually 
call  a  Russian  dinner,  served  upon  a  prettily  ornamented 
table  covered  with  fruits  and  flowers ;  and  consists  of  a  hasty 
plate  of  soup,  then  boiled  salmon,  turbot  or  some  other  fish, 
or  a  mayonaisse  of  salmon,  lobster  or  crab.  The  third 
course  is  invariably  roast  beef  garnir,  in  which  a  mysterious 
looking  bit  of  meat,  that  is  neither  rib  nor  sirloin,  is  cut 
into  slices,  and  packed  together  on  a  dish,  at  one  end  of 
which  is  maccaroni,  at  the  other  beans— each  side,  fried 
potatoes  and  cauliflower.  You  take  a  spoon  and  a  fork,  and 
help  yourself.  The  fourth  course  is  spinach,  boiled  and 
chopped  fine,  and  stewed  into  a  thinnish  paste.  This  is 
served  with  raw  herring  or  raw  ham  in  thin  slices,  or  some- 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  263 

times  it  is  varied  bj  beans  cooked  in  the  same  way  as  their 
spinach,  or  Bologna  sausage  sh'ced  thin.  The  fifth  is  the 
grand  luxury  of  the  dinner,  and  consists  of  either  snipe, 
venison,  pigeon,  black  cock,  grouse,  quail,  or  some  sort  of 
game.  Sixth,  invariably  chicken,  young  grouse  or  3^oung 
turkey  (they  all  taste  exactly  alike),  cut  up  into  bits  that 
make  two  mouthfuls ;  a  "  compote^'  or  to  be  more  compre- 
hensible, a  dish  of  stewed  apples,  plums,  prunes,  pears, 
cherries,  peaches,  cui-rants,  or  any  other  fruit  in  season  ;  a 
salad  of  lettuce,  witli  oil  and  vinegar.  Seventh  course, 
a  pudding  or  pastry,  which,  to  quote  Dr.  S.,  "  is  incompre- 
hensible and  unexplainable  to  an  American."  They  are  not 
had^  but  at  the  same  time  are  not  good.  Eighth,  fruit, 
which  tastes  of  the  ground  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner. 
These  eight  courses  are  served  in  sixty  minutes,  half  of 
which  time  is  occupied  in  the  necessary  changes  of  plates 
and  knives  and  forks. 

1^0^  matter  how  good  your  table-d'hote  may  have  been, 
when  all  is  said  and  done  you  feel  like  those  "  Wild  asses 
that  stood  in  high  places  and  snuffed  up  the  wind,"  and 
that  is  all  that  you  have  had  for  dinner.  Still,  it  is  an  insti- 
tution of  the  country,  and  taken  as  it  was  in  this  instance, 
in  full  view  of  the  mighty  river  and  its  mighty  hillsides,  it 
was  agreeable  enough. 

I.  G.  D.  S. 


Heidelbekg,  September  14,  1875. 
Dear  Mary— The  day  after  the  boys  started  for  Heidel- 
berg, the  Doctor,  Mamie,  Robbie  and  myself  set  out  for 
Kissingen;  and  if  ever  a  woman  shook  the  dust  of  a  dirty 
Bavarian  town  gladly  off  her  feet,  I  tliink  I  did  tliat  of 
Wiirzburg;  though  indeed  it  was  not  an  easy  oj)eration,  for 
there  was  the   hotel   bill,  and  the  piano,  and   half-a-dozen 


28 


264  MRS.   MOKSE   STEWART. 

items  that  you  could  get  no  account  of  till  the  last  moment, 
and  if  I  could  give  you  any  idea  of  the  complications  of 
German  currency,  you  would  see  that  the  simplest  bill 
would  grow  to  an  inextricable  confusion  if  you  were  hur- 
ried with  it.  For  instance,  premising  that  you  have  made 
a  clear  and  definite  agreement  for  your  board,  or  music,  or 
what  you  will,  the  first  thing  that  you  discover  is,  that  in 
every  instance  there  is  a  misunderstanding  or  a  side  issue  ; 
or  a  man  who  knows  nothing  about  it  comes  for  the  money 
and  insists  upon  the  face  of  his  account.  In  Germany,  as 
indeed  all  over  the  continent,  your  letters  of  credit  call  for 
so  many  pounds  sterling.  Your  banker  calculates  the  worth 
of  the  amount  you  draw  at  the  ruling  rate  of  English  gold, 
and  pays  you  in  florins,  or  gulden  and  kreutzer,  or  thalers 
and  groschen,  or  mark  and  pfennige.  A  florin  is  the 
same  as  a  gulden  (but  it  takes  you  some  time  to  find  that 
out),  and  it  takes  sixty  kreutzer  to  make  either  of  these 
coins.  The  value  in  American  gold  of  a  fiorin  is  41  cents  ; 
a  mark  is,  in  American  gold,  24  cents.  It  takes  100  pfen- 
nige to  make  a  marTc.  Your  bills  are  sure  to  be  made  out 
in  florins  and  kreutzer,  and  3'ou  have  to  pay  them  with 
mark  and  pfennige.  As  you  go  further  north,  after  you 
have  conquered  this  aggravation,  your  bills  are  rendered 
you  in  thalers  and  groschen,  and  these  again  you  are  obliged 
to  pay  with  mark.  When  you  consider  that  we  did  not 
know  the  language,  how  do  you  suppose  one  was  ever  to 
get  at  the  solution  of  the  mysteries  of  their  currency  ?  Dr. 
S.  fell  into  the  natural  but  stupendous  error  of  believing 
that  if  he  made  an  agreement  with  a  man  for  200  florins, 
and  paid  him  the  equivalent  of  that  sum  in  mark,  it  would 
simplify  matters  greatly.  So  he  would  figure  and  calculate, 
and  get  his  little  piles  of  gold  ready,  and  present  them  with 
the  appropriate  bills.     This  was  always  the  signal  for  every- 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  265 

body  putting  a  brake  on  his  or  her  temper,  and  a  scene  of 
confusion  of  ideas  talcing  place  that  beggars  description ; 
the  finale  invariably  being  a  volley  of  high  but  unintelli- 
gible Dutch,  hurled  into  our  ears,  and  the  Doctor,  with 
gleaming  eyes,  producing  a  handful  of  additional  gold,  and 
saying,  in  the  plainest  English,  "  There,  ray  friend,  take 
what  you  like,  bat  get  out  of  this,  quick  ! "  We  were  not 
the  only  persons  who  helplessly  surrendered.  It  used  to  be 
my  amusement  in  the  breakfast  room  to  see  the  bills  ren- 
dered, to  hear  them  discussed  (I  learned  quite  a  little  Ger- 
man by  listening),  and  then  observe  the  helpless  look  of 
meek  desperation  with  which  the  money  was  counted  out. 
The  Germans  themselves  were  not  much  better  oflE  than  we 
were.  The  truth  is,  we  none  of  us  liked  Wiirzburg,  and 
we  really  felt  happy  to  be  en  route  to  Kissingen,  which  is 
about  an  hour  and  a-half  journey,  only  you  change  cars  sev- 
eral times  and  wait  around  stations  so  that  it  takes  nearly 
double  that  time. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  German  Spa  that  has  the  downright 
intrinsic  value  that  the  springs  of  Kissingen  possess,  and 
large  numbers  of  English  are  always  to  be  found  there, 
These  springs  lie  in  a  pretty  little  valle}'',  through  which 
runs  a  muddy  river  Considerably  smaller  than  the  Rouge. 
Around  them  have  sprung  up  hotels,  shops,  baths  of  every 
description,  shaded  streets,  the  cure-garden  thick  with  trees, 
but  with  a  large  and  handsome  colonnade  for  wet  days,  of 
which  there  are  a  great  many,  etc.  The  railroad  depot  is  a 
pretty,  bright  building,  in  which  is  the  postotHce,  situated 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  town.  The  first  build- 
ing we  reached  was  a  new  stone  hotel,  just  being  finished. 
We  stopped  to  dine  in  the  garden  here,  and  found  ourselves 
80  pleasantly  served  that  we  concluded  to  investigate  the 
unfinished-lookin*;  house.     The  result  was  that  we  eni^a^ed 


2(56  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART. 

a  lovely  suite  of  rooms,  newly  furnished,  in  excellent  taste, 
neat,  dainty,  having  the  prettiest  little  balcony,  and  French 
windows.  Our  breakfasts  and  suppers  were  served  in  our 
own  saloon.  We  took  table-d^hote  in  a  building  at  the  end 
of  the  garden  ;  the  cook  was  good,  always  giving  us  a  nice 
hot  meal.  The  view  from  our  apartment  was  charming ; 
we  were  just  far  enough  away  from  the  town  to  be  free 
from  its  disadvantages,  but  near  enough  to  avail  ourselves 
of  its  advantages. 

Your  first  necessity,  if  you  take  what  they  call  a  "  Cur," 
is  to  consult  a  physician.  We  had  been  interested  in  the 
book  of  a  young  practitioner  there,  and  so  called  upon  him. 
He  said,  with  pleasant  frankness,  '•  People  read  my  book, 
but  take  my  father's  advice  ;"  but  he  was  sensible  and  intel- 
ligent, and  we  went  no  further.  The  regimen  at  Kissingen 
is  peculiar :  rise  at  half-past  five,  be  at  the  springs  by  six, 
drink  half  a  glass  of  Rakotzky  water ;  go  to  the  bath  house 
and  secure  a  bath.  This  is  quite  a  funny  process.  You 
take  your  place  last  in  a  line  of  people  waiting  for  a  ticket. 
After  eight  or  ten  or  a  dozen  are  served,  your  turn 
comes,  and  you  depart  with  a  bath  ticket,  and  usually  leave 
a  dozen  women  behind  you  ;  and  this  procession  lasts  from 
one  to  two  hours.  If  I  was  ahead  I  vould  manage  to  buy 
the  Doctor's  bath  too,  so  that  we  could  depart  together. 
Then  we  walked  for  half  an  hour,  and  came  back  to  drink 
another  glass  of  the  water ;  after  which  we  walked  another 
half  hour,  and  returned  to  the  hotel  for  breakfast.  It  was 
inexpressibly  comical  to  see  all  the  invalids  come  pouring 
and  hurrying  and  scurrying  down  to  the  spring.  Stout  old 
parties  who  weighed  several  tons  (to  all  appearances),  dilap- 
idated young  men,  gaunt  single  women.  The  waters  cured 
obesity  and  catarrh  ;  they  swept  and  garnished  the  intestinal 
canal,  and  put  the  whole  human  family  in  training  for  the 


LETTERS   FROM    ABROAD.  267 

invigorating  influence  of  tlie  mountain  air  of  Switzerland. 
The  English  were  here  in  large  numbers — lords  and  ladies, 
poor  gaunt-looking  architects,  swells  and  snobs,  and  nice 
middle  people  who  were  neither.  During  the  two  hours 
that  we  all  walked,  a  melancholy  band  discoursed  the  stiffest 
of  classical  music.  The  hundreds  of  people  paced  up  and 
down,  stojjping  to  buy  some  of  the  delicious  Swiss  breads 
which  were  sold  at  tables  in  the  garden.  My  dear,  if  I 
could  ever  learn  how  those  things  were  made,  it  would  be  an 
addition  to  our  receipt  book  that  would  renew  its  fame.  The 
peasants  stand  near  the  bread-women  with  earthen  pots  of 
wild  strawberries,  so  that  I  usually  took  home  for  my  small 
people  something  fresh  and  nice  for  their  breakfast.  You 
must  know  the  city  authorities  regulate  what  you  are  to 
eat  and  drink,  and  if  you  are  taking  a  "  cur,"  the  waiter  or 
proprietor,  or  whoever  you  appeal  to,  tells  you  —  "  No ; " 
"No  butter,"  "No  tea,"  "No  potatoes,"  "No  cherries," 
etc. —  "Es  ist  nicht  Curgemiiss  "  —  and  nobody  short  of  a 
"revolutionary"  would  after  that  try  to  set  up  an  opinion 
of  his  or  her  own.  When  all  the  assembled  wisdom  of 
twenty-four  M.  D.'s  has  prohibited  tea,  you  must  give  it 
up,  of  course  The  baths  must  also  be  taken  at  the  temper- 
ature prescribed  b}'  your  medical  man,  but  I  never  had  the 
least  idea  of  what  that  temperature  would  be  with  a  respect- 
able thermometer,  such  as  I  always  bathed  my  own  babies 
by,  for  it  took  such  an  intricate  calculation  to  And  out  what 
24°  Reaumur  was  with  a  Fahrenheit  thermometer,  that  I 
thought  ignorance  bliss.  The  rule  was  like  one  of  those 
in  Robinson's  arithmetic — multiply  by  2J  and  add  32  for 
above  zero  ;  but  as  there  was  another  style  that  occasioiuilly 
turned  up  and  was  sometimes  called  a  Celsius,'and  some- 
times a  Centigrade,  and  required  you  to  multiply  by  1^ 
and  add  32,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  temperatui'c 


268  MES.   MORSE   STEWAKT. 

was,  if  anything,  worse  than  the  money,  and  made  up  my 
mind  never  to  struggle  with  it.  Large  numbers  of  Russians 
were  at  these  springs,  and  the  Germans  were  mostly  of  the 
middle  class — comfortable,  fairly  well-to-do  folk  that  made 
no  pretensions,  but  were  kindly  and  well  disposed,  aiding 
you  in  anj'^  way  in  their  power,  always  bowing  to  you  cere- 
moniously when  you  took  your  place  at  table,  and  rising 
and  pleasantly  bidding  you  adieu  when  you  left. 

Of  the  residents  quite  a  number  spoke  some  English, 
and  in  many  of  the  stores  yon  found  persons  who  had 
passed  some  little  time  in  the  United  States  or  England  ; 
but  the  shoemaker  of  the  place  was  too  devoted  to  his 
trade  to  interest  himself  in  foreign  languages,  and  his 
wife,  who  attended  on  the  store,  was  too  uncompromis- 
ingly German  to  do  anything  but  sell  shoes.  In  London 
I  had  ordered  a  pair  of  walking-boots,  but  they  were  not 
finished  when  we  departed,  and  were  to  be  sent ;  as  yet 
they  had  not  arrived,  and  a  new  pair  became  an  absolute 
necessity.  I  mustered  enough  German  to  tell  her  that  I 
wished  her  husband  to  make  me  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  then 
selecting  a  pair  of  boots,  I  explained,  "  like  these."  Where- 
upon she  insisted  upon  trying  on  tliis  very  pair,  I  resisted 
ineffectually ;  the  boots  went  on,  and  seemed  to  fit ;  the 
Doctor  applauded  ;  the  woman  became  more  than  ever  set 
in  her  opinion  that  those  were  the  shoes  for  me  to  buy. 
Every  moment  they  pinched  a  sensitive  toe  more  and  more 
sharply.  Resistance  seemed  useless  ;  but  to  give  it  up  was 
future  martyrdom.  All  I  could  say  was,  "  Nein  !  "  "  Kein  !  " 
"Nein!"  while  my  perturbed  lord  and  master  murmured, 
"These  are  what  you  call  a  bird  in  the  hand."  "Do  you 
not  think  you  had  better  try  them  ?  "  "  Did  you  realize  how 
worn  your  own  boots  were  ?" —  and  all  this  time  the  "  stiefel " 
woman  was  pouring  out  torrents  of  an  unknown   tongue. 


LETTERS    FROM   ABROAD.  269 

At  last,  in  slieer  desperation,  I  betook  myself  to  the  English 
language,  in  which  I  rejected  the  boots,  and  snubbed  her 
for  her  officiousness.  She  clasped  her  hands,  and  iterated 
and  reiterated,  "Ach,  Gott  im  Himmel ! "  as  if  she  \v eve 
the  sufferer.  I  struck  an  attitude  worthy  of  Lady  Macbeth, 
thougli  my  bonnet-featliers  were  interfering  with  the  boots 
on  the  ceiling,  and  hissed  at  her,  "  My  boots  shall  be  made 
to  fit,  or  I  will  walk  my  way  barefooted  through  this  world, 
and  saying  your  prayers  will  not  alter  my  resolution." 
This  brought  matters  to  a  climax.  The  husband  appeared  ; 
the  foot  was  measured  ;  one  willful  woman  had  her  way, 
but  the  "  stiefel  frau  "  was  stifled  for  once.  Under  such 
circumstances,  you  can  imagine  how  cheerful  it  is  to  do  a 
day's  shopping. 

In  Kissingeu  we  had  such  nice  church  privileges.  We 
think  it  hard  to  keep  up  our  Grosse  Pointe  services  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  Archdeacon  Dealtry  had  a  positive  gift  in 
organizing  and  interesting  all  sorts  of  chance  comers  in  the 
church  work.  He  was  a  very  plain,  practical  man,  so 
bright  and  jolly,  that  j'ou  had  to  look  twice  before  you 
found  out  how  thoroughly  good  he  was.  He  never  took  a 
"pious  pose."  In  truth,  you  never  thought  of  Mr.  Dealtry 
till  afterwards,  and  then,  in  the  quiet  of  your  own  cham- 
ber, you  realized  how  well  he  had  done  his  Master's  busi- 
ness. There  were  hosts  of  Presbyterians  who  went  blun- 
dering through  the  service  just  as  we  did,  and  who  after- 
wards felt  and  thought  as  kindly  as  ourselves  of  the  pastor. 
Withal  he  had  a  very  pleasant  wife,  and  two  sweet  young 
daughters.  They  were  to  be  in  Kissingeu  but  a  couple  of 
months,  but  tliey  left  tlieir  influence  for  long  with  the  way- 
farers who  gathered  there  for  ever  so  short  a  season.  I 
carry  with  me  always  the  hope  of  yet  welcoming  Mr.  Deal- 
try  to  our  own  dear  land.     I  know  lie  would  enjoy  America 


270  MRS,    MORSE   STEWART. 

and  Americans,  but  I  suppose  they  will  keep  him  at  home 
and  make  a  Bishop  of  him. 

Imagine  a  month  of  days  going  on  after  the  following 
fashion :    From  six  a.  m,  till  eight,  drink  the  waters  and 
walk,  then   walk  and  drink  the   waters;    eight  till   nine, 
breakfast  (on  a  cup  of  chocolate  and  a  roll) ;  nine  till  ten, 
emulate   the   digestive   process   of   an    anaconda ;    ten  till 
eleven,  bathe  ;  eleven  till  one,  listen  to  the  violin  and  piano 
music  in  the  Conversation  Hall ;    one  till  two  p.  m,,  the 
inevitable    tahle-d' hote  \    two   till   four,    walk   to    a   castle- 
crowned  hill,  or  by  the  river  side,  or  through  the  paths  in 
the  fields,  or  take  the   road  to  Altenburg  (which  is  very 
pretty),  and  there  visit  the  salt  springs  that  furnish  us  with 
our  sea-bathing — indeed,  the  walks  are  infinite  in  number, 
if  not  in  variety  ;   return  in  time  for  the  band-music  in  the 
garden,  when  everybody    begins    and    drinks    the    waters 
again,  this  time  in  every  variety  of  demi  and  full  toilet. 
This  question  of  dress,  assumes  year  by  year  a  more  aggres- 
sive importance  ;  and  although  Kissingen  is  a  very  different 
affair  from   Saratoga,  it  still  manifests  a  certain  effort  at 
fashion  and  show.     It  is  true  if  a  German  woman  has  three 
suits  for  the  fashionable  season  she  is  uncommonly  well 
provided   for.     Many  of  their  dresses   are  expensive,   but 
they  lack  all  style ;    there  is  no  cut  to  a  train,  no  fit  to  a 
waist,  no  individuality  to  a  bonnet.     They  wear  light  blue, 
or  China  pink,  or  lavender  purple  dresses,  with  an  uncon- 
scious faith  in  fine  colors,  that  is  wonderful  to  the  American 
eye ;  and  silk  blonde  lace,  or  dotted  net,  with  as  much  satis- 
faction as  if  it  was  Pointe  d'Alencon  or  de  Venice,     Occa- 
sionally a  very  fine  costume  would  appear  in  the  garden,     I 
recall  one  in  particular — a  light  but  peculiar  blue  dress, 
with  three  plaits  to  a  sailor  waist,  a  sailor  collar,  and  all  the 
facings  a  cream  wliite,  a  white  chip  hat,  with  long  cavalier 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  271 

plume  in  blue.  This  sounds  very  flat,  but  I  never  saw 
anything  so  perfect.  There  was  a  careless  grace  and  fitness 
that  bespoke  one  of  Worth's  highest  "  inspirations."  She 
looked  like  no  one  else.  You  were  scarcely  conscious  of 
cut  or  make,  but  that  woman,  in  that  dress,  would  make  her 
posterity,  in  the  year  2000,  envy  their  grandmother  her 
taste. 

At  seven  p.  m.  we  returned  home  and  drank  a  cup  of 
milk  in  lieu  of  tea,  comforting  ourselves  with  an  omelet  or 
beefsteak,  after  which  1  read  aloud  for  an  hour  or  two — 
indeed,  have  conducted  Dr.  S.  through  quite  a  course  of 
light  literature.  1  think,  in  twenty  years,  he  never  read 
but  one  novel.  This  kind  of  change  from  thirty-three  years 
of  such  persistence  of  practice  and  reading  of  medicine 
alone,  had  its  trials,  but  in  the  end  it  will  be  a  great  gain, 
for,  I  think,  one's  brains  are  as  much  benefited  as  one's 
fields,  by  being  allowed  to  lie  fallow.  Indeed,  we  left 
Kissingen  with  regret,  and  the  value  of  its  wonderful  waters 
were  markedly  apparent  in  the  Doctor.  Quite  a  little  of 
his  old  bright  color  came  back  to  his  cheeks,  his  nervous 
system  took  an  entirely  different  tone,  the  sense  of  hurry 
began  to  leave  him,  and  for  the  first  time  he  realized  the 
tension  at  which  he  had  lived  so  long.  Oh  !  Mary,  I  may 
often  have  spoken  deprecatingly  and  contemptuously  of  the 
slowness  of  German  and  English  life.  I  have  thought  of 
our  own  bright,  active,  energetic  business  men,  with  their 
superior  wit  and  wisdom,  and  especially  '■'■go  ahead,^''  but  I  am 
satisfied  that  there  is  too  much  drive  to  our  best  American 
men.  I  remember  once  saying  to  an  overworked  lawyer, 
who  began  at  seven  a.  m.  and  dropped  work  at  eleven  p.  m.: 
"  Do  you  not  think  you  are  burning  the  candle  of  your  life 
at  both  ends?"  lie  smiled,  and  answered  a  little  sadly, 
"  It  will  be  all  there  is  of  the  candle."     Is  not  this  a  mental 


2T2  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

suicide?  Here  it  has  taken  an  intelligent  medical  man 
three  months  to  hegin  to  rest.  Think  of  the  fearful  impetus 
with  which  he  must  have  lived  and  worked,  and  how  uncon- 
scious all  this- time  he  was  of  the  overstrain.  N^ow,  in  my 
thankfulness  that  this  knowledge  has  not  come  too  late,  I 
am  humble  enough  to  learn  any  lesson  from  my  more  phleg- 
matic neighbors  that  inculcates  rest  and  recuperated  ener- 
gies. And  I  am  not  alone,  every  day  I  encounter  here  and 
there  some  overstrained,  irritable  man,  who  cannot  rest 
even  when  the  opportunity  has  come,  but  he  is  always  an 
American.  I.  G.  D.  S. 


Dresden,  November  20,  1875. 

Deak  Mart— Traveling  is  all  very  well,  and  sight-seeing 
more  or  less  delightful ;  but  ever  since  the  primal  mother 
of  mankind  felt  that  she  had  nothing  to  wear,  there  comes 
a  time  when  one  must  stop  and  get  the  outer  rind  recon- 
structed ;  and  if  I  am  to  tell  you  all  I  have  seen  and  suf- 
fered in  achieving  this  purpose,  I  might  as  well  open  early 
upon  the  question  of  shopping. 

We  left  home  suddenly  before  the  spring  styles  had 
reached  Detroit ;  and  indeed,  to  get  a  dress  that  is  satisfac- 
tory is  always  such  a  struggle,  that  I  procrastinate  worse  oii 
that  point  than  on  any  other,  and  sometimes  go  from  season 
to  season  absolutely  shabby.  Daring  the  summer  of  1874 
we  were  building  the  Home  of  the  Friendless,  and  I  con- 
sequently wore  that  season  what  I  chanced  to  have,  so  that 
by  the  spring  of  1875  I  was  in  a  shocking  state  of  destitu- 
tion, but  I  said  to  myself :  "  When  I  reach  London,  or 
Paris,  or  Brussels,  I  will  get  what  I  need  easy  enough  ; 
what  is  the  use  of  worrying  when  one  has  so  much  to  do 
and  think  of  that  is  of  so  mucli  greater  importance."     So  I 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  273 

left  home  with  the  hopeful  spirit  that  inspires  the  Irish 
emigrant  to  believe  that  the  streets  of  New  York  are  paved 
witli  gold. 

In  London  we  were  too  busy  to  shop  much,  and  there 
seemed  notliing  there  to  suit  my  requirements.  "  Store 
clothes,"  that  is  to  say,  ready-made  suits,  are  not  adaptable 
to  a  person  of  ray  exceptional  feet  and  inches — and  then, 
too,  I  abominate  them.  Still  I  looked  a  little,  and  found  a 
ratlier  pretty  traveling  suit  of  debiege  tliat  I  possibly  might 
have  taken  had  it  come  within  half  a  foot  of  the  ground. 
It  cost  six  guineas,  which  is  $30  in  gold,  or  $35  in  currency  ; 
it  was  sewed  in  a  most  hap-hazard  manner,  and  had  no  more 
fit  to  it  than  any  of  those  "  made-to-sell "  things  have.  We 
bought  two-button  gloves  for  four  shillings  and  sixpence 
per  pair — the  finest  French  gloves ;  this  in  currency  was 
$1.35,  and  was  reasonable  enough  ;  but  they  proved  an  ugly 
fit,  and  ripped  with  a  persistence  that  was  exasperating. 
In  Brussels,  we  paid  five  francs,  or  about  $1.20,  for  gloves 
that  tore  abominably.  There  they  had  some  pretty  suits  at 
about  English  prices,  but  if  /  needed  one  I  must  wait  a 
week  at  least,  and  as  we  were  all  anxious  to  reach  that 
"settled  home"  which  has  always  been  the  ignis  fatuus  of 
our  travels,  I  determined  to  risk  getting  something  to  wear 
in  Germany,  or  ordering  from  Paris.  In  Wiirzburg  their 
best  dressmakers  did  such  slovenly  work,  and  did  cut  their 
clothes  in  such  a  shiftless,  forlorn  fashion,  that  what  little 
vanity  I  had  came  to  the  surface,  and  stimulated  me  to  put 
some  patches  on  a  two  year  old  summer  silk,  and  look  like 
a  lady  who  had  seen  better  days.  In  the  meantime  B.  and 
J.  had  gone  to  Munich,  and  I  wrote  to  them  they  must  buj' 
me  something ;  but  they  replied  I  had  better  see  what  I 
could  do  in  Kissingen — it  was  a  mild  Saratoga,  and  I  might 
there  be  able  to  get  something.     Material  was  reasonable 


274  MKS.    MORSE   STEWAET. 

enough  there  of  certain   kinds,  but  the   best  goods  came 
from  England  and  France,  and  cost  as  much  as  with  us. 
I  then  wrote  to  Carter's  in  Paris  and  in  Thune,  and  found  a 
traveling  dress  would  cost  me  there  three  hundi-ed  francs,  or 
$70  in  currency.     The  duties  are  very  high  between  France 
and  Germany,  and  the  expressage  in  advance  of  the  "  United 
States"  or  "American  Express"  at  home.     To  take  all  the 
chances  of  ordering  under  these  circumstances  was   more 
than  I  chose  to  risk.     In  Kissengen  I  found  one  or  two 
ready-made  dresses  that  were  tolerable,  but  were  not  avail- 
able for  me,  and  the  private  dressmaking  was  simply  horrid. 
During  all  this  time  I  grew  shabbier  and  shabbier,  and  more 
and  more  Ishmaelitish.     I  bound  and  re-bound  the  skirts 
of  my  black  silk  and  old  grey,  and  again  wrote  to  Munich 
that   I    7nust,  for  the    respectability  of   my  country,  have 
something  to  wear ;  whereupon  J.  and  M.  and  B.  set  forth, 
and  selected   the   best  establishment  in  Munich   for  their 
purchases.     They  ordered  a  pretty  and  not  very  expensive 
dress  that  was  to  cost  $30  currenc}^,  and  I  waited  to  receive 
it  that  I  might  go  to  Heidelberg.     At  the  end  of   three 
weeks  they  said  they  could  not  undertake  to  get  the  dress 
done  before  the  middle  of  the  next  month,  which  would  be 
three  weeks  later !     They  then  went  to  a  rival  modiste,  and 
got  the  promise  of  dresses  within  a  fortnight,  for  me  and  for 
themselves.     The  end  of  it  was,  that  about  the  19th  of  July 
we  all   met  in  Heidelberg  and   arrayed   ourselves   in   our 
German  suits.     M.'s  looked  rather  graceful  and  pretty,  but 
was  not  up  in  quality  to  one  she  would  have  worn  at  home, 
and  it  seemed  to  stretch  out  of  shape  beyond  any  dress  I 
ever  saw.     J.'s  was  such  a  funny  dress  that  we  did  nothing 
but  laugh  at  her ;   every  time  the  slightest  breeze  blew  she 
seemed  to  inflate  like  a  new  balloon,  and  we  lived  in  con- 
stant apprehension  of  seeing  her  sail  skyward.     B.'s  had  a 


LETTERS   FROM   ABROAD.  275 

very  pretty  drape  to  the  skirt,  but  tlie  waist  fitted  abomin- 
ably. As  for  my  own,  the  modiste  evidently  imagined, 
in  spite  of  the  pattern  sent,  that  I  was  as  broad  as  I  was 
long;  it  was  taken  in  and  taken  in  and  taken  in,  till  I  began 
to  think  I  also  was  "  taken  in  "  every  time,  especialh'  as 
each  "  reef  in  the  waist "  cost  me  a  thaler.  Tiien  we  found 
all  this  sewing  had  been  done  with  a  single-thread  sewing: 
machine,  and  when  the  hems  began  to  run  out  of  the  ruffles 
and  the  braids  off  the  skirts,  not  even  the  arrowy  Rhine 
could  have  flown  swifter.  In  fact.  Dr.  S.  looked  at  us  all 
in  such  a  discouraged  spirit  every  time  we  appeared  in  our 
new  clothes,  that  we  were  insoired  to  striio-o-le  still  lonofer 
witii  our  old  ones. 

Before  I  left  home,  so  many  said  to  me,  "  You  can  live 
so  cheap  abroad."  Mrs.  M.,  who  had  spent  some  time  in 
Europe,  was  a  shrewd  observer,  and  had  force  of  char- 
acter euongli  to  see  and  admit  the  truth,  said  (as  I  may  have 
remarked  in  a  former  letter) :  "  Yes,  you  can  live  cheap  in 
Europe — so  you  can  on  Croghan  street  if  you  want  to;" 
which  means  simply  this — that  bread  and  meat,  tea,  coffee 
and  sugar,  rent  and  fuel,  all  cost  just  as  much  in  Germany 
as  in  Detroit ;  but  that  if  you  live  in  accordance  with  the 
habits  of  the  country,  and  take  but  a  ''brodchen"  (a  roll) 
and  cup  of  coffee  for  your  breakfast,  and  buy  three  gros- 
chen's  worth  (about  ten  cents)  of  cold  ham  from  the 
butcher's  for  your  tea,  and  occupy  three  or  four  rooms 
where  at  home  the  family  has  spread  itself  over  sixteen  or 
twenty,  and  have  four  dinner  portions  sent  for  six  persons, 
and  keep  a  family  of  five  or  six  warm  twenty-four  hours 
with  one  small  Iiod  of  coal  put  into  a  queer  porcelain  con- 
cern in  the  corner  that  looks  like  a  family  monument,  and 
should  have  inscribed  upon  it,  "  Sacred  to  the  memory  of 
departed  fires,"  you  can  do  it  for  a  comparatively  small  sum 


276  MRS.   MORSE   STEWART. 

of  money ;  but  if  you  buy  such  a  roast  of  beef  as  you  do 
at  home,  and  otlier  things  in  proportion,  you  will  inevitably 
pay  more  than  in  Detroit,  and  as  much  as  in  New  York. 

I  do  not  say  that  dry  goods  are  cheap  at  home,  but  I  can 
truly  say,  that  all  over  the  United  States  you  buy  a  very 
superior  class  of  goods  to  what  you  can  here.  In  the  mat- 
ter of  gloves,  I  clung  to  a  pair  of  undressed  kids  I  bought 
at  Newcomb  &  Endicott's  for  $1.50,  till  they  outlasted  two 
pairs  of  gloves  that  cost  me  87i  cents  currency.  I  have  of 
late  worn  Swiss  undressed  kids  at  87|c  that  have  done  good 
service,  but  that  is  a  mere  chance.  I  was  always  dainty 
about  gloves,  but  I  assure  you  at  any  of  our  reliable  stores 
you  can  buy  a  better  glove  for  a  dollar  than,  with  one 
exception,  I  have  ever  been  able  to  buy  here.  Good  cotton 
goods— such,  as  a  class,  as  New  York  Mills  and  Wam- 
sutta — cost  30  cents  currency.  I  had  hoped  to  buy  some 
napiary  at  a  low  price,  but  find  I  must  pay  for  a  really  nice 
napkin  from  $10  to  $13  currency.  This  is  not  alone  my 
experience.  Miss  J.  W.,  writing  from  Geneva,  says:  "B. 
is  right — better  freeze  than  buy  such  a  sealskin  sacque  as 
you  describe  those  in  Dresden  ;  they  are  no  better  here.  In 
London  or  Paris  you  can  get  what  you  want,  but  no  place 
else— I  will  wait."  Miss  H.  D.,  from  the  south  of  France, 
says  :  "  We  have  not  nearly  as  nice  a  choice  of  fancy  work 
as  at  home,  and  it  costs  just  as  much." 

No,  Mary,  when  I  consider  the  tariff  of  the  United  States 
on  all  articles  of  luxury,  and  then  consider  the  superior 
quality  of  the  goods  sold  hy  our  merchants,  I  feel  that  in 
years  gone  by  I  have  misjudged  them.  From  the  adver- 
tisements in  the  New  York  and  Detroit  papers,  it  is  evident 
you  are  paying  no  more  now  than  the  inside  figure  here. 
Unless  I  find  an  astonishing  change  in  prices  in  Paris  I  shall 
buy  very  little  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  really  preferring 


LETTERS   FROM    ABROAD.  277 

to  trust  our  own  honest  dealers,  than  leaving  myself  at  the 
mercy  of  shopkeepers,  who  "  see  you  are  an  American," 
and  charge  accordingly,  they  having  had  much  experience 
with  that  careless,  free-handed  people.     I  hear  occasionally 
of  some  lady  who  goes  home  with  $15,000  worth  of  laces 
for  her  own  use,  and  then  am  not  surprised  that  the  custom- 
house  regulations   become   more   and    more   stringent.     I 
only  can  account  for  women  shoppers  in   this  way  by  the 
theory,  that  at  home,  they  had  become  so  accustomed  to 
our  ruinous  credit  system,  as  to  neither  realize  what  they 
spend  nor  what  they  pay.     A   woman  who  lets  her  diy 
goods  bill  run  until  she  has  made  a  permanent  heartache 
between  herself  and  her  husband,  is  scarcely  as  much  to 
blame  as  the  man  who  has  too  little  confidence  in  his  wife 
to  trust  her  with  money,  and  so  puts  in  her  way  the  temp- 
tation of  misusing  his  credit,  she  believing,  as  he  himself 
does,  that  large  wealth  is  just  within   his  grasp.     Report 
after  report  comes  to  us  here  of  ''tight  times"  and  "innu- 
merable failures "  at  home,  and   I  begin  to  be  ashamed, 
under  tliese  circumstances,  to  hear  that  "  the  Americans 
are  the  best  dressed  people  in  the  world."     I  think  when 
I  get  home  I  shall  wear  my  Munich  dress  entirely  out,  and 
lay  its  remains  up  in  lavender,  that  in  future  I  may  remem- 
ber the  moderation  of  the  German  nation.     They  may  not 
be  as  well  dressed  as  we  are,  but  they  are  quite  as  comfort- 
able, and  much  more  content  than  the  women  of  America. 
They  wear  a  cloak  or  dress,  or  bonnet,  till  it  is  worn  out, 
and  what  is  more,  they  wear  it  in  the  fashion  in  which  it 
was  first  made.     From  the  highest  to  the  lowest  they  look 
comfortable,  and   common   and   respectable,    and  in   good 
enough  taste,  too.     To  be  sure,  the  young  ladies  wear  blues 
and  greens  and  purples,  that  make  B.'s  blood  run  cold,  but 
to  me  this  introduction  of  a  bright  color  here  and  there  is 


278  MRS.    MORSE   STKWART. 

no  detriment,  especially  where  there  is  no  sunshine  to 
refract  it. 

In  September  my  winter  trunk  came  from  London,  and  I 
can  assure  you  I  am  now  wearing  my  last  year's  bonnet, 
furs,  dresses,  etc.,  without  a  stitch  of  change,  and  am  as 
well  dressed  as  any  one  in  tliis  vicinity,  and  much  better 
than  most.  There  is  such  a  pretty  young  German  girl  in 
our  house  wlio  buys  a  piece  of  tarletan  for  which  she  pays 
al)out  two  dollars,  and  makes  her  own  dresses  for  the  ball ; 
and  as  she  has  great  beauty  as  well  as  taste,  she  always  has 
a  very  sweet  and  distinguished  air.  We  have  not  thought 
her  a  person  who  amounted  to  much,  and  yet  when  you 
consider  that  at  eighteen  years  of  age  she  plays  the  piano 
exquisitely,  reads  and  speaks  English  well,  makes  all  her 
own  and  her  mother's  dresses  and  cloaks,  makes  the  desserts 
for  a  family  of  twelve  (I  ache  to  give  her  a  lesson  or  two  in 
the  use  of  eggs,  flour  and  sugar,  for  she  needs  it),  and  goes 
into  a  reasonable  amount  of  society,  she  practically  amounts 
to  a  great  deal.  It  is  true  it  takes  her  two  liours  to  appre- 
hend a  joke,  and  much  longer  to  comprehend  a  principle, 
and  when  she  has  mastered  both  she  lays  them  carefully 
but  gladly  aside,  as  things  that  were  too  much  for  her ;  but 
slie  may  outgrow  this  peculiarity  sooner  than  an  American 
girl  can  grow  into  habits  of  industry  and  method. 

We  hear  so  much  about  work,  and  a  woman's  right  to 
work,  and  all  that.  It's  true  enough,  her  avenues  of  labor 
might  be  increased ;  but  here,  as  well  as  in  the  United 
States,  all  skilled  labor  commands  its  price.  A  first  rate 
teacher  commands  good,  though  not  large,  pay ;  in  music, 
with  an  established  reputation  and  a  fair  clientelle,  he  gets 
from  $1.25  to  $4  a  lesson.  Education  is  far  from  cheap — 
in  fact  nothing  is  cheap ! !  If  ever  the  currency  question 
of  the  United  States  is  on  a  settled  and  permanent  basis, 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  279 

and  one  dollar  in  American  money  will  represent  one  dollar 
in  gold  coin,  then  the  products  of  Europe  will  not  strike 
travelers  as  being  cheap,  unless  our  tariff  is  of  a  kind  to 
tempt  people  to  sm.uggle.  I  have  no  respect  for  the  judg- 
ment of  Congressmen  who  seek  to  protect  home  manufac- 
tures bj  excessive  duties — for  instance,  in  the  matter  of 
carpets  we  pay  60  per  cent,  duty  for  an  English  carpet,  and 
a  wise  woman  can  afford  to ;  for  the  weaving,  the  wool,  the 
dyeing,  the  taste,  and  last  but  far  from  least  the  durability, 
make  one  English  carpet  out-look  and  out-wear  three  of  our 
American-made  Brussels  carpets ;  and  yet  one  must  either 
pay  this  enormous  tax,  or  buy  the  American  article.  Car- 
pets cost' on  this  side  for  the  best  Brussels,  $1.45  to  $1.60 
in  currency.  There  is  no  reason  why  in  the  United  States 
an  equally  good  article  should  not  be  produced  for  the  same 
price,  except  the  haste  to  be  rich,  which  seems  to  curse 
every  manufacturing  enterprise  in  our  country.  JSTow,  I 
hear  that  the  market  is  over-flooded  with  home  manufac- 
tures, and  the  bonded  warehouses  bursting  with  foreiofu 
importation  that  must  be  accepted  or  returned  at  a  loss. 
If  it  is  best  for  the  nation  that  we  should  wear  homespun,  let 
them  make  us  good  liomespun  at  a  fairly  remunerative  price, 
and  let  us  don  it  with  pride  and  pleasure  for  the  country's 
sake.  The  carnival  of  dress  that  came  in  with  poor  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  should  be  over,  ought  to  be  over,  and  sooner  or  later 
must  be  over.  There  is  neither  sense  nor  principle  in  our 
mad  race  after  fashion  and  style,  and  especially  change  and 
show — aye,  and  even  comfort ;  there  is  such  a  thing  as  try- 
ing to  be  too  comfortable.  A  young  American  lady  said  to 
me  :  "  I  never  was  ashamed  of  my  couutry- women  till  I 
saw  them  in  Paris.  There  in  the  eveniuij:  at  the  Pension, 
every  woman  appeared  with  her  day's  shopping,  and  the 
conversation  was   in   this  wise:    'Oh,   it  ought  to  have  a 

24 


280  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART. 

plastron  in  the  back  ! '  '  Wliat  a  shame  !'  '  This  bill  is  a 
perfect  fraud — the  dress  was  only  to  cost  800  francs,  and 
this  is  for  1000,  all  just  because  I  changed  my  mind  about 
the  tie-back.'  '  What  do  you  think  of  ray  lace  ? '  A  wise 
old  party  in  the  corner  whispers  with  a  shrug,  '  Showy.' 
And  then  the  hats  came  out ;  every  one  knew  a  Yirot — 
'  Cheapest  thing  he  had  was  about  $30  currency.'  "  And 
so  it  kept  up  for  the  three  months  she  was  at  Mine.  M.'s. 
"l!^ow,"  said  Miss  M.,  "there  are  three  of  us;  we  have 
$4,000  a  year  between  us  ;  I  do  see  so  many  heautiful 
things  that  I  want,  I  have  a  real  love  for  photographs, 
and  they  run  away  with  so  many  dollars,  that  I  could  not 
but  look  at  my  fellow  country-women  and  groan.  Two- 
thirds  of  them  were  about  as  well  off  as  we  were ;  a  few  had 
$2,500  or  $2,000;  they  could  stay  in  Europe  as  long  as 
that  lasted,  and  they  seemed  to  think  there  was  no  end  of 
such  sums.  "We  have  been  abroad  two  years  and  a-lialf  ; 
have  studied  and  traveled  leisurely,  and  seen  thoroughly; 
have  bought  many  photographs,  some  Geneva  jewelry,  a 
few  nice  corals,  and  have  lived  comfortably  in  good  pen- 
sions and  hotels  ;  sometimes  have  kept  house.  It  has  taken 
calculation,  but  we  have  never  been  shabby,  and  rarely  very 
fashionable.  A¥e  will  go  home  benefited  and  profited  in 
body  and  mind  by  our  years  of  stay  and  travel,  but  we  have 
eschewed  the  temptation  of  clothes,  which,  I  confess,  has 
sometimes  been  very  strong." 

Mary,  dear,  I  was  not  ashamed  of  my  country-woman  in 
this  instance  !  As  to  gentlemen's  clothes  they  are  cheaper ; 
but  oh,  they  do  not  look  nearly  so  nice ;  and  when  we  get 
back,  if  homespun  is  the  country's  wear,  I  certainly  would 
like  to  have  an  American  cut ;  indeed,  the  sign  of  "  Ameri- 
can Tailor"  is  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  town  where 
Americans  and  English  congregate. 


LETTERS   FROM   ABROAD.  281 

P.  S. — I  have  just  read  this  over  to  the  family,  who 
approve,  but  bid  me  tell  Aunty  how  poor  the  shoes  are. 
One  American  pair  is  calculated  to  outwear  three  that  are 
German  made.  At  D.'s  I  used  to  buy  German,  and  at 
K.  &  E.'s,  English  stockings.  As  I  was  making  some  last 
purchases  for  the  children  on  their  voyage,  the  young  clerk 
showed  me  something  for  myself ;  "  Oh  no,  thank  you,"  I 
replied,  "  we  are  going  to  the  land  of  stockings."  Mr.  E., 
who  was  standing  near  me,  gave  me  such  a  queer,  odd  little 
smile,  and  dropped  his  hands,  as  if  to  say,  "  What  is  the 
use — Mrs.  S.  never  would  credit  my  advice  as  being  disin- 
terested— she  is  pretty  well  calculated  to  live  and  learn." 
Many  a  time  since  I  have  thought  of  that  withheld  advice. 
When  I  have  inquired  for  a  certain  make  of  German  stock- 
ings they  never  had  that  style  —  "  these  are  much  better." 
At  last  I  lost  my  temper,  and  said  to  the  merchant,  "  The 
very  hest  goods  that  are  made  in  Europe  go  to  America ;  I 
can  buy  better  things  of  your  own  manufacture  there  than 
here."  The  man  replied  very  frankly :  "  Certainly — why 
not?  The  Americans  like  their  own  styles,  and  will  buy 
the  best ;  these  are  much  better,  and  so  cheap."  Is  a  thing 
that  will  not  wear,  ever  cheap  ?  Here  I  expected  to  learn 
lessons  in  the  most  advanced  domestic  economy,  but  as  yet 
I  have  seen  many  weak  joints  in  that  harness.  First  rate 
economy  means,  to  my  mind,  first  rate  calculation  ;  do  not 
fill  your  stomach  with  poor  food  because  it  is  cheap ;  do 
not  starve  because  the  good  things  are  dear.  See  what  won- 
derful things  you  can  do  with  a  soup  bone  that  costs  you  a 
quarter.  You  can  have  the  best  of  soup  for  two  days,  and 
marrow-bones  on  toast,  iind  hash,  or  a  la  mode  stew  or  cro- 
quets enough  for  one  dinner.  If  butter  is  too  dear  to  eat  at 
three  meals  a  day,  have  oatmeal  and  milk  for  one.  Now, 
this  sort  of  calculation  I  have  not  yet  seen  ;   everything  is 


282  MRS.    MORSE   STEWAET. 

kept  under  lock  and  key,  but  not,  in  m}^  judgment,  used  to 
the  best  advantage.  With  the  resources  one  has  at  home, 
if  we  only  gave  our  minds  to  domestic  matters,  we  could  do 
wonderful  things,  for  the  freshness  and  originality  and 
bright  wit  of  an  American  woman  is  far  superior  to  that  of 
other  nations,  who  have  worn  the  ruts  of  their  life-road  very 
deep. 

I  honestly  believe  that  a  large  proportion  of  our  Ameri- 
can women  have  high  principle.  They  do  not  willingly  or 
designedly  ruin  their  husbands,  and  when  they  are  ruined, 
are  the  first  to  come  to  the  front  and  bear  patiently  the 
brunt  of  misfortune.  If  men  would  but  make  women  their 
true  partners  in  the  struggle  for  existence  or  advancement, 
women  would  be  more  tlioroughly  the  helpmeets  of  their 
husbands  than  they  are.  Failures  and  frauds  would  be  less 
common.  Who  envies  Miss  Tweed  to-day  her  $25,000 
trousseau  and  $100,000  wedding  cheque  from  her  dear 
papa,  or  the  $150,000  worth  of  presents  from  Mr.  Jim 
Fisk,  and  all  that  set?  Or  who  grudges  poor,  fast,  foolish 
Ralstone  his  bitter  ending  ? 

Thousands  of  men,  more  or  less,  like  these  two,  had 
better  have  taken  the  advice  of  ray  dear  old  friend  Mr.  L., 
of  Milwaukee,  whose  brother,  a  man  worth  in  1857,  more 
than  half  a  million,  came  to  him  to  report  his  fearfully 
embarrassed  condition,  and  said,  "  I  am  sick,  perhaps  dying ; 
what  is  the  best  thing  for  me  to  do?"  He  replied,  "  The 
best  thing  is  to  tell  Annie^''  "Tell  Annie!  no,  never! 
Why  should  I  tell  Annie  till  I  am  obliged  to  ?  No,  I  will 
not  tell  Annie."  "  Well,"  said  Mr.  L.,  "  I  will  help  you 
with  all  my  might  if  you  will  tell  your  wife ;  we  were 
never  very  good  friends,  it  is  true,  but  there  is  a  streak  of 
good  in  Annie,  and  if  you  want  my  help  you  must  tell 
Annie."     And  Annie  was  told,  and  the  next  day  Mr.  L. 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  283 

found  this  cold,  stiff  woman  not  only  ready  for  any  sacrifice, 
but  only  too  anxious  to  put  down  the  carriage  and  dismiss 
the  servants.  In  the  end  the  gentleman  only  lost  $200,000, 
but  after  that  he  never  hesitated  to  "  tell  Annie." 

I.  G.  D.  S. 


Paris,  March  30,  1876. 

Dear  Mary — Since  I  last  wrote  you  on  the  subject  of 
shopping,  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  seeing  Paris  at  its 
spring  flood-tide  of  "bargains,"  and  so  can  now  tell  you 
how  things  are  managed  in  that  great  mart  of  elegance. 
You  remember  in  your  last  letter  you  said,  "  Perhaps  your 
views  of  shopping  may  change  when  you  have  once  been  to 
the  Bon  MarcheP  We  reached  Paris  the  last  week  in 
February  in  very  reduced  circumstances  as  to  strength, 
flesh,  or  outward  adornments,  and  once  there,  I  collapsed 
and  went  to  bed  for  a  couple  of  days.  After  that  I  rose 
and  attempted  to  do  a  little  work  in  the  way  of  making 
purchases  and  struggling  with  dressmakers.  Of  these  latter, 
Worth  has  a  world-wide  reputation  ;  he  dresses  the  actresses, 
singers,  and  stage  people  generally,  and  any  foolish  private 
lady  who  goes  to  him  must  pay  three  prices  for  everything 
he  makes  for  her.  Withal,  he  gives  himself  great  airs,  I 
am  told,  and  dictates  in  a  manner  that  would  not  be  to  my 
taste.  In  Jules  Yerne's  dramatized  "  Trip  to  the  Moon," 
I  hear,  he  has  done  some  wonders  in  arraying  four  ballet 
dancers  as  little  birds,  with  pink  vests  and  pink  muffs  and 
blue  wings  that  folded  into  delicious  little  coat-tails  ;  but  as 
I  saw  these  artistic  costumes  only  in  a  photograi)li,  J.  tell 
you  about  them  on  hearsay.  Hentenaar  is  said  to  have 
the  most  "cA^c,"  or  as  we  say,  "style,"  and  is  even  more 
autocratic  than  Worth.      Kingsbury  adapts   himself   better 


284  MES.   MOESE   STEWAET. 

to  the  American  taste  and  temper,  bat  all  these  people 
decline  to  touch  anything  for  less  than  a  thousand  francs 
($200),  and  will  not  give  their  ^-mind''  to  a  limited  order. 
Then  comes  the  iMesdames,  or  women  dressmakers,  who 
rule  the  monde.  I  called  on  one  or  two  of  these,  and  at 
twelve  M.  they  received  me  in  an  elaborate  toilet,  with  faces 
rouo-ed  and  powdered  and  painted  in  a  most  superior  and 
life-like  manner.  One  of  these  saw  from  the  glint  of  my 
eye  that  I  was  not  to  be  awed  out  of  my  old  fogy  notions, 
and  remarked,  "  Is  Madame  desirous  of  something  in  her  ' 
own  style  that  \ve  can  execute  for  her  ? " 

Eventually  I  found  a  very  satisfactory  dressmaker,  or 
rather  two  or  three  of  them,  and  really  had  beautiful  work 
done,  but  at  prices  as  high  and  higher  than  those  of  the 
United  States.  They  have  their  various  models  furnished 
them  by  some  great  mysterious  head-center  of  fashion,  and 
work  these  out  with  such  minor  changes  as  they  may 
suo-o-est  to  their  bright  work- women. 

Paris  teems  with  dressmakers  and  milliners,  the  latter 
asking  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  francs,  so  that  $40  was 
rather  high,  but  $30  the  average  price  for  particularly  nice 
bonnets  of  any  sort. 

One  day  a  sharp  little  clerk  in  the  Magasiiies  du  Louvre, 
desirous  of  securing  the  business  of  our  party,  said  to  us : 
"  If  you  will  wait  till  this  day  week,  I  can  sell  you  this  silk 
for  three  francs  less  a  metre."  Woman-like,  we  waited, 
and  he  was  true  to  his  word.  The  spring  openings  of  the 
great  stores  all  take  place  on  that  day,  and  all  the  goods  are 
more  or  less  reduced  in  price.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight  to 
see  these  great  stores— the  Magasine  du  Louvre,  the  Bon 
Marche,  Printemps,  Le  Fauvre  Diable,  Magasine  de  la 
Paix,  Au  Petit  St.  Thomas,  and  a  dozen  lesser  lights 
— crowded  with  eager  purchasers. 


LETTERS   FRdM   ABROAD.  285 

The  Bon  Ifarche  lias  a  world-wide  reputation,  and  is  a 
wonderful  store,  or  rather  establishment ;  in  it  jou  can  buy 
almost  an3'thing  in  the  waj  of  clothing  that  you  may  desire. 
It  covers  an  entire  square,  and  has  three  or  four  places  of 
ingress  and  egress;  the  ceilings  are  a  little  low,  but  each 
department  seems  fairly  lighted,  and  you  can  go  from 
counter  to  counter  on  the  first  floor,  finding  neckties,  stock- 
ings, handkerchiefs,  gloves,  every  species  of  woolen  stuffs, 
silks,  cottons,  linens,  muslins,  curtains,  rugs,  bonnets,  fancy 
goods,  and  a  thousand  and  one  other  accessories,  such  as 
linings,  trimmings,  etc.  Then  you  ascend  the  stairs,  and 
tliere  are  ready-made  dresses,  underclothing,  laces,  corsets, 
children's  clothes,  shawls,  parasols,  umbrellas,  etc. — even 
furs  are  kept  here.  The  prices  may  be  one  or  two  per  cent, 
less  than  the  Magasine  du  Louvre,  but  the  generality  of 
goods  is  not  quite  as  finished  and  perfect  in  all  respects  as 
in  the  higher  priced  store.  The  trained  shojjper  seeks  an 
"  occasion "  or  bargain,  and  by  watching  her  time  and 
chance  she  finds  many.  The  fact  that  for  one  whole  week 
a  fourteen-franc  silk  is  sold  for  ten,  struck  me  as  being  very 
curious.  Every  thread  of  it  goes  up  again  to  the  original 
price  on  Saturday  evening. 

It  had  always  been  a  theory  and  a  hope  with  me,  that  in 
Paris  we  could  get  all  that  was  fine  and  perfect  in  gloves. 
Imagine  my  astonishment  when  in  the  Magasine  de  Louvre, 
the  very  best  great  store  in  Paris,  the  gloves  fell  short  of 
my  expectations.  They  were  cheap  enough,  a  three-button 
glove  costing  one  dollar  and  ten  cents  currency,  but  they 
had  all  manner  of  little  defects.  The  head  glove-clerk  was 
an  extremely  intelligent  young  Frenchman  who  understood 
fitting  a  glove  to  perfection.  When  a  pair  were  handsomely 
adjusted,  I  turned  and  said,  "  Yes,  a  very  pretty  lit ;  but 
tlie  glove  is   not   perfect."     "Oh  yes,  Madame,  it  lias  no 


286  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

imperfection — c'est  sans  defaut'''  "Now,"  I  said,  "look 
at  tliis,  and  this,  and  this,"  pointing  to  a  little  starting  of  a 
seam,  a  slight  difference  in  the  texture  of  the  skin  used  for 
the  thumb  and  that  used  for  the  hand,  and  a  few  scarcely 
perceptible  failures ;  "  this  is  not  a  perfect  glove,  and  at 
home  I  would  not  take  it."  "That  is  all  very  true,"  he 
made  answer,  "  these  are  not  such  gloves  as  you  buy  ;  see 
what  a  price  you  pay  for  them  over  there — two  dollars  and 
a-half  for  a  pair  of  gloves,  and  these  cost  but  one  dollar." 
"I  did  not  ask  you  for  a  cheap  glove,  but  for  your  very 
best."  "Indeed,  Madame,  these  are  our  very  best — the 
very  best  that  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  persons  in  a 
thousand  ever  think  of  using  ;  but  you  are  right — they  are 
not  WxQferfect  glove  you  have  been  in  the  habit  of  buying; 
the  truth  is,  the  very  hest  gloves  made  all  go  to  the  United 
States.  You  do  not  care  what  you  pay,  and  you  will  have 
it  ^perfect  in  America;  but  no  Frenchman  or  German  is 
iroinir  to  wear  ffloves  that  cost  so  much  ;  these  are  nice  and 
handsome  and  good  enough.  I  will  tell  you  where  you  can 
order  a  better ;  it  will  take  four  weeks  to  have  your  order 
filled,  and  they  will  cost  you  two  dollars  currency." 

Then  I  said  to  myself,  maybe  you  are  more  nice  than 
wise;  if  these  are  good  enough  for  all  France,  suppose  yon 
try  and  put  up  with  them. 

In  Paris  the  one  thing  that  set  me  wild  was  the  display 
of  precious  stones  in  the  galleries  of  the  Palais  Koyal. 
Such  diamonds,  such  wonderfully  carved  and  cut  and  pol- 
ished gems,  that  recalled  that  breast  plate  of  Aaron  the 
high  priest — "A  sardius,  a  topaz,  a  carbuncle,  an  emerald, 
a  sapphire,  a  diamond,  a  ligure,  an  agate  and  an  amethyst,  a 
beryl,  an  onyx  and  a  jasper." 

There  was  an  opal  and  diamond  necklace  in  one  of  the 
windows  that  for  six  weeks  won  my  daily  admiration.    Had 


LETTEES   FKO.AI    ABROAD.  287 

I  been  rich  I  certainly  would  liave  bought  it  to  look  at.  I 
often  thouolit  it  was  old  Plebrew  blood  within  rae  that 
stirred  and  wakened  at  the  sight  of  precious  stones  and  old 
pictures. 

In  Geneva  a  jeweler  was  showing  me  various  beautiful 
stones,  and  said :  "  But  you  seem  to  know  all  their  names 
and  colors  and  differences  ;  have  you  ever  studied  the  sub- 
ject ?"  "  Only  in  the  Book  of  Revelations,"  1  replied.  He 
laughed  sucli  a  merrj^  pleasant  laugh,  and  produced  such 
topaz  and  amethyst,  that  even  while  I  write  my  heart  and 
memory  glows  with  the  reflex  of  their  magnificent  colors. 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  nice  people  were  in  this  respect, 
for  I  never  deluded  any  one  into  being  polite  to  a  prospect- 
ive purchaser.  I  frustrated  all  that  sort  of  hope  at  the 
beginning  of  an  interview,  bought  promptly  what  I  had 
to  buy,  and  stated  that  any  inquiry  I  made  afterwards 
was  simply  to  gratify  an  interest  or  curiosity.  In  this  con- 
nection I  ought  to  make  mention  of  a  whole  morning  spent 
in  the  Compagnie  des  Indes,  80  Rue  Richelieu.  I  bought 
what  I  desired,  paid  for  the  same,  and  then  said  :  "  Lace  in 
all  its  different  varieties  is  very  interesting  to  the  American. 
What  little  we  know  we  learn  by  instinct  and  chance  com- 
parison more  than  any  other  way.  We  are  very  much 
obliged  to  you  for  your  politeness  in  showing  us  so  much." 
"  Oh,  Madame,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  you  see  we  are  not 
busy  to-day,  and  if  it  interests  you  and  you  would  spend 
another  hour  or  so  we  would  esteem  it  a  great  pleasure  to 
have  you  see  a  great  deal  more  of  our  lace  systematically." 
And  if  you  will  believe  it,  he  began  with  the  poorest, 
thinnest  real  thread,  and  went  up.  He  showed  us  the  dif- 
ference between  Chantilly  and  Brussels  lace ;  the  increase 
of  thickness  of  the  fineness ;  the  beginning  and  perfection 
of    the   shading  of    the   flowers.     And    then    came    I*oint 


288  MES.    MORSE   STEWART. 

« 

d'Aguille  and  Point  d'Alencon  and  Point  d'Venise,  so  that 
for  two  hours  B.  and  I  went  tliroiigli  a  course  of  instruction 
that  I  shall  never  forget.  At  last  I  said  :  "  There  is  no  end 
to  this,  and  I  cannot  tax  you  any  further."  "Ah,"  he 
replied,  "  now  you  must  stay  to  see  what  we  have  for  the 
American  Exposition."  He  produced  about  twenty-live 
inches  of  lace  half  a  yard  deep,  and  I  do  positively  assure 
you  it  was  as  pretty  as  a  picture — a  picture  of  the  loveliest 
flowers  and  leaves — the  very  ghost  of  flowers — not  ghastly, 
dead  things,  but  spirits,  phantoms,  shadows,  that  were  living, 
sentient,  soul-like  things  without  any  thick  corporeal  frame. 
Of  course  you  wonder  "what  it  cost?"  Just  $2,500  in 
gold ;  25  by  18  inches  of  woman's  work — and  it  was  worth 
the  money. 

One  day  after  1  had  shopped  for  pretty  much  everything, 
the  Doctor  came  in  and  asked  me  to  go  witli  him  and  inter- 
view a  wonderful  old  gentleman  who  constructed  fac-shn- 
iles  of  "  morbid  anatomy  "  —  tremendous  eyes  and  ears,  and 
lungs  and  brains.  Here  my  French  was  put  to  a  pretty 
stiff  test,  but  Madame,  his  wife,  came  in,  and  although  she 
did  not  speak  a  word  of  English,  I  was  able,  with  her  hel]), 
to  get  out  of  a  difficulty  about  a  throat  and  a  larynx.  The 
old  gentleman  had  exhausted  his  own  brain  on  the  wonder- 
ful fac-simile  of  a  brain,  which  was  his  last  work,  and  he 
stood  there  a  helpless  wreck ;  but  the  patience  with  which 
Madame  aided  him,  and  the  gentle  pity  of  her  appeal  to 
him,  the  sweet  and  tender  way  in  which  she  called  him 
"  mon  ami^''  made  even  buying  ears  and  eyes,  and  larynxes, 
agreeable. 

One  thing  I  constantly  noticed  on  tlie  continent,  and  even 
more  in  England,  and  that  was  the  fact  that  everj^thing 
was  in  style  in  the  way  of  household  decoration  and  adorn- 
ment ;  no  one  hesitates  or  feels  shabby  in  using  a  thing  that 


LETTERS   FROM   ABROAD.  289 

has  long  been  '■'"passe''''  in  our  own  hurrying  country.  It  is 
true,  when  one  buys  a  new  thing,  she  naturally  endeavors 
to  liave  it  in  a  new  pattern,  but  old  things  are  always 
respectable.  In  Paris  one  could  live  handsomely  and  dress 
very  nicely  for  a  less  sura  than  in  any  other  great  city  in 
the  world  ;  nothing  is  wasted — the  merest  bone,  or  the  old 
gilt  trimming  on  an  officer's  epaulet,  is  made  to  do  some 
service  till  it  is  reduced  at  last  to  its  original  elements. 

Some  other  time  I  will  tell  you  of  the  beauty  and  cleanli- 
ness of  Paris,  but  just  now  must  confine  myself  to  its  shop- 
ping privileges.  Here  you  can  buy  everything j  but  articles 
of  luxui-y,  taste  and  artistic  skill  are  those  that  do  most 
abound. 

The  fans  are  something  exquisite — lace  and  pearl  and 
tortoise  shell,  and  painted  silic  or  ostrich  feathers.  Their 
cost  is  from  $30  to  $60  currency.  Bronze  and  imita- 
tion bronze  is  a  specialty.  Clocks  and  marbles,  oxidized 
silver  ornaments,  porcelain  in  a  thousand  lovely  shapes  and 
designs  abound.  But  the  goblin  tapestry  made  even  me 
actually  long  for  no  end  of  money  — it  was  all  my  fancy 
painted  it,  and  more.  Oh,  I  know  how  I  could  make  one 
small  library  j^e^y^c^  with  $10,000  (which  would  not  include 
the  books).  If  I  lived  in  Paris  the  "  old  curiosity  shops  " 
would  keep  me  poor  and  half  starved.  J.  and  B.  had  no 
sympathy  with  this  taste  of  mine,  but  M.  P.  and  I  were  of 
one  mind,  and  when  we  had  a  day  out  together  we  reveled 
in  impossible  plans.  Dr.  S.  laid  down  the  law  on  several 
important  points.  He  said  :  "  No,  I  will  not  take  home 
'a  Kerry  cow,'  or  an  'Alderney ;'  no  'donkey,'  no  'Shet- 
land pony,'  no  '  Dutch  clock,'  no  unsightly  old  wood  boxes 
with  impossible  '  dragons  on  them,'  no  chairs  that  are  only  to" 
look  at  because  the  sea-sick  '  cherubs  thereon  spout '  foam- 
ing bile;  no  '  Portland  vases,'  no  vermin  infected  '  Vene- 


290  MRS.    MOESE  STEWART. 

tian  cabinets,'  no  '  scenes  of  the  middle  ages,'  no  '  lace '  that 
may  have  been  exhumed  from  the  grave,  or  rotted  itself  to 
a  fashionable  color  on  a  basswood  '  Yirgin  Mary.'  "  So 
you  see  I  was  not  allowed  to  exercise  my  taste  in  any  out-of- 
the-way  direction.  Mame  R.  and  I  used  to  go  oft"  by  our- 
selves to  these  wonderful  bric-a-brac  establishments,  and 
clasp  each  other's  hands  and  sigh  over  the  tyranny  of 
unfeeling  husbands  and  aunts,  and  sacrifice  our  feelings 
unlimitedly,  while  J.  and  B.  and  the  Doctor  shot  all  sorts 
of  criticisms  at  us  when  we  described  a  few  of  the  tilings 
we  liad  not  bought. 

The  one-hundredth  part  of  what  I  saw  to  buy  in  Paris 
would  "  swamp  "  tlie  Messenger,  and  it  is  such  a  trial  iiot  to 
tell  you  about  them ;  but  I  might  as  well  stop  first  as  last, 
for  I  only  got  the  necessaries  of  life  after  all. 

We  spent  a  few  days  in  London,  where  I  visited  some  of 
their  handsomest  stores,  but  neither  in  Germany,  England, 
Belgium  nor  France  did  I  see  after  all,  any  establishment 
that  for  satisfactory  elegance,  equaled  A.  T.  Stewart's  great 
store  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Tenth  street,  I^ew 
York. 

One  pouring  London  day  I  went  off  to  Paternoster  Row 
to  buy  some  Bibles,  and  I  did  have  such  a  nice  time.  Five 
years  ago  my  children  gave  me  a  reference-index  Bible  with 
the  quaint  rubric  of  the  middle  ages.  My  brother  G.  said, 
"Now  use  red  ink  to  line  your  special  passages  so  that  it  will 
be  black  and  red  throughout."  Oh,  the  comfort  I  have  had 
out  of  that  soft-covered  volume.  The  old  question  used  to 
be,  "Do  you  read  the  Bible?"  Yes,  I  read  my  Bible;  I 
had  read  it  all  my  life;  we  read  it  through  every  two  years 
at  home,  so  that  twenty  times  that  blessed  volume  had  been 
poured  through  my  mind,  and  the  most  of  it — may  God 
forgive  me — had  gone  in  at  one  ear  and  out  at  the  other; 


LETTERS   FROM    ABROAD.  291 

it  was  a  mere  ineclianical  process.     But  a  dozen  years  ago  I 
began  to  ^^  search  the  Scriptures,"  and  with  the  aid  of  my 
index  and  concordance  I  can  track  out  now  any  grand  prin- 
ciple of  life  or  doctrine — any  sweet  and  tender,  or  patiently 
heroic  history  ;  oh,  I  can  find  anything.     And  so  I  had  four 
or  five  friends  to  whom  I  meant  to  carry  a  Bible — the  cus- 
tom house  could  get  no  duty  on  that.     I  went  to  Bagster's 
and  to  Eyre  &  Spottiswoode's,  and  bought  exactly  what  I 
wanted ;   and  this  is  what  J.  O.  says  since  she  has  used 
it:    "It  is  a  significant  and  comforting  sign  of  the  times 
that  God's  word,  pure  and  simple,  is  growing  to  be  the 
great  aliment  of  the  Christian  mind  of  this  century.     Bag- 
ster's and  Eyre's  Bibles  contain  only  the  helps  to  searching 
the  Scriptures — the  whole  Scriptures."     Dr.  Pitcher  said  to 
me  years  ago,  when  I  was  mourning  the  death  of  an  old 
friend,  whose  wee  baby  was  left  motherless  in  the  world — 
"  Yes,  she  was  a  good  woman,  and  there  are  a  great  many 
other  good  women  who  never  think  of  obeying  God's  law. 
If  she  had  read  the  rules  of  health  and  life  that  God  gave 
to  Moses,  and  obeyed  them,  her  goodness  would  have  been 
more  apparent  to  me,  and  she  would  have  been  living  now." 
What  are  the  teachings  of  Dr.  E.  H.  Clarke  to  the  teacliers 
and  parents  of  this  land  but  a  practical  application  of  the 
Levitical  law  ?     And  it  will  not  be  the  faith  alone,  but  the 
faith  and  practice  of  God's  precepts  that  will  yet  govern  us. 
I  saw  how  these  books  were   bought.     The  man   said  : 
"Americans  think  them  so  cheap  that  we  sell  large  numbers 
to  the  United  States."     They  cost  about  $8  in  London,  but 
with  us  $14  is  asked,  and  now  that  I  am  home,  I  only  wish 
I   had    brought  forty  Bibles,  but  am    very   well    satisfied 
that  I  did  not  break  ray  heart  because  I  could  not  have 

"a  tapestried  chamber"  or  a  "Kerry  cow." 

I.  G.  D.  S. 


292  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 


Detroit,  July  20,  1876. 

Deak  Mary — As  several  of  your  friends  were  sarcastic 
enough  to  express  a  wish  to  know  what  I  found  that  was 
"entirely"  satisfactory  in  Europe,  and  as  I  did  find  a  num- 
ber of  places,  tilings  and  people  that  were  so,  I  will  begin 
to  make  mention  of  them  with  Heidelberg,  which  is  rarely 
"beautiful  for  situation"  — in  fact  it  has  always  been  the 
headquarters  of  romance.  Longfellow,  in  his  sentimental 
little  prose  poem,  "  Hyperion  "  (old  fasliioned  and  out  of 
date  now),  gives  some  very  pretty  descriptions,  almost  as 
accurate,  of  this  German  town,  as  Hawthorne's  "  Marble 
Faun  "  is  of  Rome.  As  for  G.  P.  R.  James,  his  "  solitary 
horseman  "  appears,  reappears  and  disappears  constantly,  in 
his  novel  called  "  Heidelberg ;"  and  greater  and  lesser  liter- 
ary lights  than  these  write  tenderly  of  the  castle  and  hamlet 
of  Heidelberg,  that  in  the  thirteenth  century  was  raised  to 
the  dignity  of  a  town. 

From  this  time  it  became  for  five  centuries  the  capital  of 
the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine,  till  the  Elector  Palatin,  Philip, 
was  driven  to  such  a  state  of  distraction  and  desperation  by 
the  disputes  between  Protestants  and  Romanists,  that  he 
took  himself  and  his  court  off  to  Mannheim. 

I  think  it  was  in  1518  that  Luther  held  his  celebrated 
disputation  in  the  Augustine  Monastery,  under  Friedrich 
II.,  who  favored  the  Reformation.  The  first  Protestant 
worship  was  held  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  this 
must  have  been  about  1550,  at  which  time  the  Emperor,  by 
way  of  keeping  things  fair  and  square,  had  a  wall  built 
across  the  middle  of  the  church,  and  gave  one  end  to  the 
Protestants  and  the  other  to  the  Romanists. 

In  1875  the  Protestant  end  was  our  place  of  worship,  the 


LETTERS    FltOM    ABROAD.  293 

Established  Church  of  Scotland  having  provided  a  minister 
and  held  service  there  for  several  years. 

As  for  the  church  edifice,  it  was  rather  a  spooky,  pokerish 
place  at  the  best,  but  this  astonishing  wall  of  division  gave 
one  an  impression  of  worshiping  God  from  the  bottom  of  a 
well.  I  think  the  damp,  cold,  dismal,  forlorn  church  edifice 
would  have  proved  too  much  for  the  small  members  of  the 
family,  had  it  not  been  for  the  astounding  appearance  of 
the  organ-blower  on  a  kind  of  treadmill,  who  sailed  majes- 
tically up  into  a  little  square  aperture,  and  then  as  suddenly 
went  off  like  a  man  in  a  fit  every  time  the  bellows  was 
inflated.  What  he  did  when  out  of  sight,  or  why  he  did  it, 
we  never  knew,  but  I  shall  always  feel  grateful  to  him,  he 
was  such  a  comfort  to  Robbie,  who  otherwise  would  have 
been  woefully  tried  by  the  religious  services. 

We  Americans  think  a  hundred  years  great  things,  but 
the  centuries  seem  to  run  so  fast  in  that  old  world,  that  I 
was  perpetually  swept  away  by  the  flood-tide  of  general 
history,  and  after  some  time  concentrated  my  ideas  in  the 
Thirty  Years'  war,  which  was  the  culmination  of  all  that 
went  before,  and  the  cause  of  much  that  has  followed  after. 
The  moral  sentiment  of  Germany  and  the  present  status  of 
women  were  greatly  influenced,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  by  a 
fight  enduring  so  many  years — thirty  years  swarmed  over 
by  a  soldiery  who  knew  no  moral  law,  no  civil  law,  and  not 
very  much  military  law. 

The  town  of  Heidelberg  is  at  the  base  of  a  short  but 
high  range  of  mountains,  which  form  the  most  effective 
of  backgrounds,  as  they  are  covered  with  the  loveliest  of 
forest  growth.  It  does  not  exceed  half  a  mile  in  width 
and  two  in  length,  being  bounded  laterally  by  the  River 
JSeckar  on  the  one  side,  and  these  mountain-hills  on  the 
other.    All  who  have  seen  Turner's  picture  of  this  beautiful 


294  MRS.    MORSE   STEWART. 

town,  and  afterwards  the  place  itself,  realize  that  he  gave 
the  efEects  rather  than  the  facts  of  its  situation,  for  he 
twists  the  River  Neckar  as  nature  never  twisted  it,  and  puts 
the  bridge  where  it  suits  himself  and  his  enchanting  lights 
and  shade,  instead  of  where  it  actually  spans  the  river. 

The  streets  of  the  city  are  for  the  main  part  narrow,  sew- 
erless  affairs,  with  high  old  German  houses,  made  not  only 
endurable,  but  picturesque,  with  luxuriant  growing  ivy,  and 
curious  gable  windows. 

The  great  promenade  of  the  town  is  what  is  called  the 
"Anlage,"  a  wide  street  with  houses  on  one  side,  but  on  the 
other  what  is  practically  a  small  park  two  hundred  feet 
wide  and  three-quarters  of  a  mile  long.  This  park  has 
winding  walks,  beautiful  shrubbery,  trees  and  flowers,  and 
what  at  times  seemed  to  me  better  than  all,  the  nicest  of 
seats.  Oh,  how  I  wish  we  could  introduce  the  French  and 
German  custom  of  living  in  the  open  air.  It  was  our  habit 
to  take  book  or  knitting  or  embroidery  with  us,  or  even  a 
German-exercise  grammar,  and  sitting  out  on  the  Anlage, 
perform  whatever  task  we  might  have  in  hand.  It  was 
not  necessary,  as  in  dear  old  Detroit,  to  go  into  a  store  and 
buy  something  simply  that  one  might  get  a  seat. 

"We  had  it  in  heart  to  introduce  this  innovation  on  Jeffer- 
son avenue,  but  are  assured  that  the  seats  will  only  become 
the  rendezvous  for  ragamuffins,  loafers,  vagabonds,  drunken 
men,  and  the  irrepressible  small  boy,  or  what  the  city  locals 
call  "little  vags"  of  the  period.  It  is  evident  we  are  too 
free  to  be  comfortable. 

The  crowning  glory  of  Heidelberg  is  its  castle,  the  oldest 
part  of  which  was  built  towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  To  reach  it  involves  a  half  mile  walk,  in  which 
you  rise  three  hundred  and  thirteen  feet.  There  are  vari- 
ous modes  of  access  to  it,  however,  the  least  pleasant  but 


LETTERS   FROM   ABROAD.  295 

most  expeditious  being  by  a  very  narrow  street,  lined  with 
old,  dingy,  and  in  some  instances  dilapidated  houses,  and 
spanned  at  one  place  by  the  old  cit}^  gate,  a  square,  substan- 
tial tower,  which  gives  shelter  to  several  dozen  families,  and 
smells  past  description.  Another  and  more  beautiful  way, 
but  much  more  difficult  of  ascent,  has  a  shaded  path,  walled 
on  one  side  bv  the  rocks,  and  o-reen  with  tree  and  hedcre  on 
the  other — just  the  place  for  a  pair  of  sentimental  lovers; 
but  anything  so  indecorous  as  a  lover  is  tabooed  in 
"  Deutschland."  It  is  therefore  not  as  useful  as  it  is  orna- 
mental. 

There  is  yet  another  passage,  but  fearfully  trjnng  to  the 
spinal  column,  called  the  Roman  stairs.  I  climbed  them 
once,  and  came  near  going  to  a  better  country,  leaving  my 
remains  to  be  labeled  and  filed  away  with  the  verdict, 
"  Want  of  breath,  the  cause  of  death."  This  brings  us  to 
the  Elizabethan  gate,  built  by  the  Elector  Frederick  V.,  in 
lionor  of  his  consort,  Elizabeth  of  Englatid,  who  by  the  bye 
was  the  daughter  of  James  I,  of  England,  and  granddaugh- 
ter of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  This  Elizabeth  must  have 
been  a  good  deal  of  a  woman,  for  the  castle  being  in  her 
time  two  centuries  old,  was  naturally  in  need  of  repair. 
She  added  largely  to  it,  and  very  thoroughly  restored  the 
old  building,  doing  wonders  in  the  way  of  garden-making, 
forming  great  plateaus  of  ground  out  of  the  very  hillside 
itself,  and  then  planting  them  with  the  trees  of  all  countries. 
It  was  to  the  heirs  of  this  line  that  the  English  succession 
fell  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Stuart  dynasty  in  the  direct 
line. 

The  gardens  and  castle,  with  their  historic  record,  have 
liccn  a  shrine  to  the  English  tourists.  After  a  walk  of  five 
minutes  from  the  Elizabethan  gate  to  the  Courtyard  gate, 
we  entered  through  another  archway  opening  into  a  large 
court,  always  thronged  during  summer  with  carriages   of 

35 


296  '   MES.    MORSE   STEWART. 

tourists  or  sight-seers.  At  the  right  hand  is  a  great  old-fash- 
ioned draw-well,  and  alongside  of  this  a  portion  of  the 
building  had  been  used  for  stables ;  from  these  stables  to 
the  front  of  the  castle  runs  a  dilapidated  wing  of  the  castle 
about  five  hundred  feet  in  length.  This  is  four  stories 
high,  and  beautifully  ornamented  with  carved  figures  and 
rich  architectural  designs.  In  this  section  we  see  the 
remains  of  the  great  old  chimney  which  fills  the  entire 
corner  of  a  room  used  as  the  kitchen,  and  is  twelve  feet 
across  the  front.  Here  a  whole  ox  was  spitted  and  roasted 
for  the  knights'  table,  and  around  the  angles  of  this  chimney 
scullions  and  gentlemen  alike  toasted  themselves.  The 
rooms  for  the  main  part  had  evidently  been  comfortable, 
and  a  great  household  could  have  distributed  itself  with  a 
rough  and  ready  ease,  that,  according  to  all  romance-writers, 
was  very  delightful  and  not  entirely  inelegant. 

On  the  left  of  the  entrance  is  the  Ruprecht  building, 
built  in  1300,  and  the  old  chapel;  forming  almost  a  right 
angle  with  this  is  the  Frederick  building,  built  in  1600. 
Facing  the  court  on  this  building  are  four  rows  of  statues 
of  sixteen  kings  or  emperors,  together  with  genii,  cornuco- 
pias and  birds,  as  well  as  the  Goddess  of  Justice  with  sword 
and  balance  ;  in  case  people  were  not  satisfied  with  the  way 
she  used  her  scales,  she  relieved  herself  of  further  bothera- 
tion by  cutting  their  heads  off.  In  this  building  is  the  new 
chapel ;  also  j;he  great  tun,  that  is  21  feet  high  and  20  feet 
long,  and  would  hold  about  twenty-five  hundred  bottles  of 
wine,  had  it  not  become  rather  earlier  in  the  day  a  huge 
rats'  nest.  Here,  too,  we  have  quite  a  collection  of  antiques, 
including  portraits  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  James  L,  his 
daughter  Elizabeth,  and  a  direct  line  from  her  to  old 
George  I.  of  England. 

But  the  glory  of  the  castle  is  the  balcony,  which  you 


LETTERS   FJiOM   ABROAD.  297 

reach  by  going  tlirougli  a  long  archway,  that  in  these 
times  would  be  called  a  tunnel.  It  is  a  wide  rampart  with 
a  stone  wall  and  coping,  three  feet  and  a-lialf  or  four  feet 
high,  with  a  sentry-tower  at  each  end.  From  this  there  is 
a  charming  view  over  town  and  river,  and  low-lying 
lands  beyond.  Twice  this  Heidelberg  castle  has  been 
burnt,  and  old  Melac  in  1688  tried  to  blow  up  a  tower 
twelve  feet  thick,  but  after  exhausting  his  skill,  gunpowder 
and  Satanic  temper  for  a  period  of  two  weeks,  only  suc- 
ceeded in  dislodging  about  a  third  of  it.  Over  this  disman- 
tled ruin  the  friendly  ivy  has  crept  for  many  a  long  year, 
until  now  it  is  the  most  lovely  of  all  the  views  of  the  castle. 
Words  fail  to  give  any  adequate  idea  of  the  castle  and  its 
surrounding  grounds,  and  it  is  universally  conceded  to  be 
the  finest  ruin  on  the  continent. 

As  we  returned  from  our  tenth  visit  I  could  not  refrain 
from  making  a  long  observation  of  the  "  Zum  Ritter  Haus," 
which  is  in  the  Hauptstrasse  of  the  town,  the  oldest  build- 
ing in  Heidelberg.  It  was  the  great  hostelry  of  the 
knights,  who  came  to  pay  their  homage  to  the  court.  It  is 
a  quaint,  gabled,  much-decorated  old  house,  with  a  certain 
dignity  of  decay,  that  leads  one  to  think  wistfully  of  days 
when  simplicity  reigned. 

In  Heidelberg  one  can  spend  a  great  deal  of  satisfactory 
time.  There  nature  is  beautiful,  history  is  attractive,  the 
ruins  of  age  are  seldom  mouldy;  woods  and  water  —  for- 
est or  vine-clad  hillside — mountains  or  far  reaching  plain — 
music,  and  the  clear,  keen  mountain  air — odd  stone  shrines, 
such  as  "  Luther's  Pulpit,"  or  the  "  Konigstuhl,"  and  the 
"  Ilicsenstein,"  or  springs  like  the  "Wolfs-Brunnen,"  or  the 
'•  Prince's  Fountain  " — hedge  or  wall — all  are  redolent  of 
pleasant  thoughts  and  sweet  imaginings ;  and  I  shall  ever 
tenderly  remember  dear  old  Heidelberg  in  all  its  glow  of 
summer  and  autumn.  I.  g.  D.  S. 


^  ^ouo  tot*  tltc  dluiou. 


England's  heavy  chains  oppressed  us, 

And  her  foot  had  held  us  down, 
Till  the  People,  full  of  fury, 

Raised  the  shout,  "Resist  the  Crown  !  " 
All  the  Nation  heard  the  watchword — 

Every  town  sent  up  the  cry, 
Answering,  like  a  solemn  echo, 

"  We  will  conquer  or  will  die  !  " 
Then  were  seen 
The  brave  Thirteen, 

Fighting  for  our  liberty. 

All  New  England's  heroes  wakened. 

With  the  courage  wrongs  inspii'e — 
Nerved  themselves  to  stand  the  struggle, 

Dare  and  brave  old  England's  ire, 
While  from  every  hill  and  valley, 

Thronging  came  an  answering  baud. 
Poorly  clad,  half  armed,  but  heroes, 

And  for  Freedom  took  their  stand  : 
Then  were  seen 
The  brave  Thirteen, 

Winning  us  a  free-born  land. 

Victory  crowned  their  gallant  struggle — 

God  alone  they  owned  as  King — 
And  they  stood,  a  free  born  people, 

Sheltered  by  the  Almighty's  wing. 
While  their  statesmen  and  their  heroes, 

To  a  compact  set  their  hand — 
■  All  our  strength  lies  in  our  Union  ; 
To  the  world  as  one  we'll  stand  ! " 
The  Old  Thirteen, 
Since  then  have  been. 
Honored  and  blest  in  every  laud. 


SONG   FOR   THE    UNION.  299 


Oh  !  the  contrast  time  now  shows  us  ! 

Scarce  a  hundred  years  have  passed, 
And  the  smothered  mutterings  warn  us 

This  will  be  the  Union's  last. 
Last !     Virginia,  you  who  gave  us 

Our  dear  Father,  Statesman,  Chief, 
Can  YOU  let  the  life  he  fought  for — 

A  great  Nation's — be  so  brief  ? 
Strife  between 
The  Old  Thirteen  ! 

Never  let  that  sight  be  seen  ! 


Georgia  !  whose  chivalric  soldiers 

Proved  the  worth  of  gentle  blood. 
When  the  enemy  struck  so  boldly. 

And  o'erswept  you  like  a  flood — 
Will  you  turn  your  steel  against  those 

Wlio,  when  in  your  direst  need, 
Came  to  strengthen  those  proud  spirits  ? 

Georgians,  dare  you  say,  "Secede  "  ? 
Blood  between 
That  Old  Thirteen, 

Brothers  both  in  w(jrd  and  deed  ! 


Thy  records,  Carolina,  point 

Where  the  first  for  Freedom  fell  ; 
By  the  mother  who  thus  bore  you. 

Will  YOU  bid  us  all  farewell  ? 
Wild  and  willful,  proud,  impatient. 

Haughty  sister,  have  you  known 
Through  your  turbulent  life  we  loved  you 

For  a  beauty  of  your  own — 
Loved  you  truly, 
Even  unduly. 

And  could  never  have  you  gone  ? 


100  MRS.    MORSE    STEWART. 


By  the  memories  of  the  Keystonh — 

By  the  Jekskys'  blood  stained  siiows — 
By  old  Empiue's  glorious  battles — 

By  the  record  of  our  foes  ; 
By  Schuyler,  Knox,  old  Putnam,  Greene- 

By  Marion's  men,  and  Harry  Lee, 
Let  us  forget  all  party  strife. 

And  only  know  that  we  are  fkeu;  ! 
The  world  has  seen 
What  we  have  been — 

Oh  !  still  preserve  the  Old  Thirteen  ! 


With  what  blindness  are  we  smitten. 

Brother  thus  opposing  brother — 
In  the  Nation's  past  'tis  written, 

Freedom  is  our  glorious  mother  ! 
You  can  count  her  pangs  of  travail 

In  the  banner  waving  o'er  us  ; 
History  tells  the  wreck  and  carnage 

That  o'erspread  her  when  she  bore  us. 
Shall  love  languish. 
When  her  anguish 

Beacon- like,  still  floats  before  us  ? 


Palsied  be  the  lips  that  frame  it — 

Helpless  fall  that  foeman's  arm  ; 
Turn  his  fiercest  strength  to  weakness. 

Who  would  do  a  brother  harm  ! 
And,  O  God  !  wilt  thou  take  vengeance 

On  who  e'er,  by  word  or  deed, 
Broadcast  o'er  our  noble  country, 

Sowed  disunion's  fruitful  seed  ? 
Curse  the  tongue 
Of  old  or  young, 

Who  shouts  the  battle-cry,  "Secede! " 


SONG   FOR  THE   UNION.  301 


God,  our  Lord,  be  thou  our  support — 

Thou  our  stay  in  this  dark  hour  ; 
Guide  us  through  these  angry  mazes 

By  Thine  over-seeing  power  ; 
Blast  the  rage  of  party  sections  ; 

Cause  such  war  and  strife  to  cease  ; 
Give  us — greatest  gift  to  nations — 

Give  us  Union,  Love,  and  Peace  ! 
The  Old  Thirteen 
On  Thee  shall  lean — 

Lord,  let  their  mutual  love  increase  ! 


Cast  to  the  breeze  that  banner  still, 
With  not  one  single  star  erased. 
With  not  one  single  stripe  effaced  ; 
Shout,  with  a  hearty,  brave  good  will — 
"  Let  nought  our  happy  land  dissever — 
The  Union  one,  and  one  forever  !  !  " 
Wake  the  wide  echoes  with  the  pean — 
The  Union,  and  the  Old  Thirteen  ! 


A   REQUIEM    AND   A   WELCOME 

FOR 

The  Years  1865-1866. 


T\\c  mxa  nmX  tlte  '^cw  ^mv. 


Weary  and  slow  tolls  tlio  bell, 

In  the  knell 

Of  the  passing  year, 

While  the  bier, 

With  its  bearers  all, 

And  its  snowy  pall. 

Bends  o'er  the  yawning  grave 

Of  Time's  Slave. 

Let  a  sepulchre  vast 

Garner  the  dying  past; 

Heap  a  cairn  upon  her  breast, 

For  now  she  enters  rest. 

Out  of  the  midnight  gloom, 

Around  her  yawning  tomb, 

Shadowy  spectres  rise; 

And  with  wild,  wistful  ej'^es 

Look  their  last 

On  the  Dead  Past. 

Viewless  are  the  troop  who  come, 

With  white  lips  and  dumb, 

To  lament  the  war-worn  year, 

And  drop  a  hallowed  tear 

O'er  the  mother  who  there  lies — 

She  who  garnered  all  the  sighs 

Of  the  wounded  and  the  slain, 

On  the  land  and  on  the  main. 


THE   OLD   AND   THE   NEW   YEAR.  303 

They  welcome,  while  they  weep. 
Her  last  sleep ; 

'Tis  the  dead  who  thus  bewail 
The  Nation's  grail. 

*  *  *  *  * 

Merrily  ring  the  chimes 

Of  these  altered  times. 

Weep  no  more. 

One  life  is  o'er, 

But  in  its  parting  throes, 

The  dear  old  year  bestows 

A  smiling  heir, 

Far  more  fair. 

With  her  life  the  birth-pang  's  o'er. 

And  the  child  that  victory  bore 

Is  named  Peace. 

Oh  precious  Peace ! 

*  *  *  *  » 

Kosy,  dimpled,  azure-eyed. 
She  is  both  our  love  and  pride  ; 
May  she  clasp  unto  her  breast 
All  the  golden  hopeful  West, 
And  kiss,  with  her  baby  mouth, 
All  the  sore  hearts  of  the  South. 
May  the  mothers  of  a  race 
Worthy  of  fame's  highest  place, 
Give  her  woman's  tenderest  care. 
May  they  comfort  her  despair; 
May  the  thousand  sundered  ties. 
All  the  bitter  thoughts  that  rise, 
All  the  sin  of  this  wild  strife 
Rest,  wiped  out  with  last  year's  life  ; 
And  when  this  young  year  shall  close, 
When  we  knell  to  its  repose. 
The  fair  soul  of  our  white  Dove, 
Let  Time's  offspring  then  be  Love. 


%xtriXct  frotix  pcrs.  Steiuarfs  "muxt 


"Iq  the  name  of  God  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
with  entire  reliance  iipon  His  faithful  promise  (Isaiah:  xliii,  1-3),  I, 
Isabella  Graham  Duffield  Stewart,  of  the  City  of  Detroit,  Wayne  County, 
Michigan,  wife  of  Dr.  Morse  Stewart,  do  make  and  publish  this  my  last 
will  and  testament : 

"I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  husband  the  great  old  Bible 
given  me  by  my  father,  leaving  with  it  my  prayer  that  he  may  find 
therein  comfort  and  strength  meet  for  his  day.  To  my  five  children, 
each  and  every  one,  I  leave  the  heritage  of  the  second  commandment. 
They  are  heirs  of  grace,  joint  heirs  of  immortality,  and  I  charge  them  as 
with  my  dying  breath  that  they  keep  unbroken  the  long  entail  of  a  God- 
fearing, God-loving,  God-serving  ancestry,  and  in  their  turn  transmit  the 
blessings  of  the  covenant  to  their  children  after  them. 

"  My  three  sons  and  my  two  daughters  I  commit  to  the  tender  mer- 
cies of  a  covenant-keeping  God,  asking  only  for  them  that  He  will  bring 
them  soul  and  body  when  He  makes  up  His  jewels,  and  thus  render 
them  fully  and  forever  blessed." 


Jn  l^^cmortitm. 


The  followiug  Hues,  pasted  on  a  fly-leaf  of  her  Bible,  bearing  date 
November  3d,  1871  (the  day  of  her  mother's  death),  may  fittingly  close 
this  memorial : 

"Gone  home!    Gone  home!     She  lingers  here  no  longer 
A  restless  pilgrim,  walking  painfully, 
With  homesick  longings  daily  growing  stronger, 
And  yearning  visions  of  the  joys  to  be. 

"  Gone  home!    Gone  home!     Her  earnest,  active  spirit. 
Her  very  playfulness,  her  heart  of  love! 
The  heavenly  mansion  now  she  doth  inherit 
Which  Christ  made  ready  ere  she  went  above. 

"  Gone  home!    Gone  home!    The  door  through  which  she  vanished 
Closed  with  a  jar,  and  left  us  here  alone. 
We  stand  without,  in  tears,  forlorn  and  banished. 
Longing  to  follow  where  one  loved  has  gone. 

"  Gone  home!    Gone  home!    O  human- hearted  Saviour 
Give  us  a  balm  to  soothe  our  heavy  woe; 
And,  if  thou  wilt,  in  tender,  pitying  favor, 
Hasten  the  time  when  we  may  rise  and  go." 


I 


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